Chaotic Worlds
by garren85
Summary: A massive crossover fanfic that involves many superhero characters from anime, comics and tokusatsu series.
1. Chapter 1: Dreams

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 1: Dreams

Disclaimer: Chaotic Worlds is intended to be a multi-crossover fanfic influenced by a great number of anime, comics & even live-action series. Examples include X by the manga group CLAMP, characters from the DC Comics universe & maybe even Power Rangers to name a few. While my main characters are original ones, they are based on characters that are based on the works of others. Guest characters making appearances in this fanfic will also not be mine. As such, I'll do my best to add disclaimers where necessary to avoid having angry people with copyright lawsuits all over my ass. Enjoy!

Universe 1566

"Ah crap!" the young man exclaimed, his mouth full of bread & peanut butter & raspberry jam, as he bolted out the front door of his house racing on the pavement. His left hand carried his open school bag, from which his textbooks & homework dangled precariously while his right hand carried the remainder of his sandwich. He could hear the horn of his schoolbus, calling out for late passengers. Stuffing what remained of his sandwich into his mouth, Ken put on an extra burst of speed and sprinted to his schoolbus, making it just in time. Inside, he found his best friend sitting near the back snickering at him. He slid into the empty spot beside Jake, then ran a hand through his tousled hair in a futile attempt to make it more presentable.

All the while not noticing the tall stranger in the black overcoat who had been observing him the moment he had left his house.

* * *

"Cutting it close today, aren't we?" smirked Jake Turner as his childhood friend sat beside him, panting heavily. Jake was slightly shorter than Ken & the two had been best friends since they were four. In fact it was easy for Jake to make friends with almost anybody. He had a trustworthy face, the kind strangers would trust even during a first meeting. Add to that his obvious leadership qualities & it was easy to see why Jake was president of the student body at their high school. His expression turned serious slightly on seeing the nervous look on Ken's face. "You overslept? Usually you're always on time. What's so different about today? Didn't your parents give you a wake-up call?

"No man. That's the thing that's been worrying me. Even though the rest of my family's been at my grandparents since the previous weekend, either my mom or my dad to call me to wake up," replied Ken.

"Huh. Weird."

"What's so weird about 1 missed call, Ken? Maybe they had a sleep-in & forgot to wake up themselves," piped up Cassie Bennett, Jake's girlfriend who had been quietly sitting behind them.

"You don't know his dad, Cass. Not that well I mean."

"He's right Cassie. As far as I can remember, my dad's always dragged me out of bed every morning for morning training, no matter rain or shine. I don't think there's ever been a morning where he didn't try to wake me up by overturning my mattress or with a flying kick to my gut."

"That's kinda overboard…You know about this too Jake?" Cassie asked Jake.

"Yeah he's not joking Cassie, I was staying over the morning Uncle Karl tried to wake Ken up with a flying kick. Had a bit of a corkscrew to it too, if I recall…"

"Yeah you'd remember that, Jake, I used you to block that one."

"Oh yeah…"

"Why do you have to do morning trainings everyday Ken?"

"My dad's the chief executive of this small security company. As his eldest, I'm expected to take over when I'm of age so all this martial arts training everyday is to prepare me…is what he said. In any case, I've always woken up early every morning if not by myself then my dad would wake me up, so much so that I've gotten used to it. Even when he wasn't at home like the past few days he'd call me non-stop to 'get my lazy fat ass out of bed & go train'. After all that, oversleeping & waking up late just doesn't seem…right to me. Somehow."

"There's something else right Ken?" Jake asked, a shrewd smile on his face. "I know all about your morning trainings buddy. Hell every summer your dad not only dragged your butt out of bed but also mine too. I know from experience that one of you would always wake up the other so that the trainings could begin. The question is if your dad didn't wake you up, how come you couldn't wake up yourself to call & wake him up?"

"You catch on fast don't you."

"It's a gift," replied Jake modestly. "Now spill the beans man, how come you were late this morning?"

"I…had a dream. Something's gonna happen soon, something big. It wasn't a good dream but it wasn't exactly a nightmare either. I just got the feeling that whatever it is, it's gonna change my life, in a big way. Forever."

"It's just a dream, Ken," reassured Cassie.

"Maybe."

As the bus drove closer to the teens' school, the stranger in the black overcoat maintained a save observing distance between & himself, effortlessly leaping between the rooftops of the nearby apartment building. His assignment had been clear. He was to watch over Ken Fanell & his friends.

* * *

As the school bell rang signaling the end of the school day, a collective sigh of relief could be heard echoing throughout the school halls, followed by the usual clattering, dragging & scraping of chairs being pushed back to their tables, of lockers opening & closing & of other routine noises. Jake & Cassie were making plans for a date during the coming weekend. Ken walked slowly behind them, his face bearing the same worried expression he wore that morning while he checked his cell phone for any messages. It didn't take Jake & Cassie long to notice this. Not to mention some of their other friends.

"Ken, you've been wearing that same gloomy face for a whole day man. Keep that up & your face's gonna stay like that forever," joked Matt Conway, a linebacker on their school's football team.

"Don't be such an insensitive wart, you dumbass," retorted his best friend Lisa Hunter while swatting the back of his head hard. "Can't you see he's worried about something?"

"OW! Ok, ok I'm sorry alright? Now could you stop looking at me like that? Ken, buddy, you ok? You look out of it."

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine…nothing to worry about really."

"Jake? Cass? Care to explain it to me & Rachel here about why our boy's standing here so depressed?" asked Matt. Like Jake & Cassie, both Matt & Rachel had known Ken since they were kids & were close friends with him. The five of them had grown up together in the same neighbourhood & shared many happy memories between themselves. Ken understood that it was only natural for his friends to be worried for him, to want to help him. Yet while he was grateful inside, at the same time he did not want them to be involved at that moment. He did not want their lives to be changed too. For his dream had not just involved him, but also his four friends & two others.

These thoughts went through his head as Jake & Cassie related to Matt & Rachel the dream that he had told them about that morning, occupying his confused mind so thoroughly that he barely heard Jake talking to him.

"Ken. KEN."

"Huh?"

"You agree with everything I told these two, right? About your dream?

"Oh yeah, sure. Everything." He hoped his tone sounded convincing. It wasn't. As usual Jake saw through him. He sighed, exasperated. He knew Ken was hiding more than he was letting on. He just didn't know why. Enough was enough. It was time to know the truth.

"Look, man could you just…" he began when he was interrupted by beeping from Ken's cellphone. Instantly, Ken took out his cellphone & began reading the message that had appeared. As he did so, the tension in his body began to loosen considerably & the worried frown on his face gradually gave way to relief.

"So who was that?" asked Cassie, curious.

"My mom, she just left me a message saying that my family's back, that's all."

"Yeah well you look a bit too relieved about it…" answered Matt dubiously. Ken just smiled. It was obvious to him that his friends wanted a proper explanation for his behavior that morning.

"Okay, to tell you the truth, I just had this feeling that my family was somehow linked to my dream. Like I said, it wasn't exactly a good dream so I thought it was a premonition that something had happened to them. It kinda had me worried the whole day."

"Is that all? Did your dream…have anything to do with us?" At this comment of Jake's, Ken looked sharply at Jake, alarmed. So did the other three. The relaxed atmosphere between the five had charged up with tension again. Ken didn't answer, choosing instead to turn abruptly and walk away as fast as he could. "Let's find a more quiet spot, ok?" he muttered as he headed in the direction of the park closest to his house.

Once the five were sure they were alone, Ken turned to face his friends & looked at them apologetically. "Jake was right," he explained. "My dream didn't involve just me but also you guys. In my dream, we were standing in a circle facing each other, along with two others."

"Who?"

"My younger cousin, Kyle was one of them. The other guy, I don't know. I've never seen him before…all I could tell was that he was slightly older than the rest of us. So there's seven of us in a circle looking at each other, and we're all looking at each other not knowing what's going on when all of a sudden seven beams of light, in different colors, come down and split up…c'mon Matt don't give me that look, I swear I'm telling the truth here," Ken explained patiently, all the while becoming increasingly aware of the incredulous looks that had begun appearing on his friends' faces. "I know it sounds like I'm pulling your leg, but I'm telling the truth here. Just hear me out."

"Well, you've never lied to us so I don't think you plan on starting now right?" Matt smiled.

"The seven beams of light, what about them?" asked Rachel.

"They split up, each beam coming to each of us. And here's where it got weird. The beams changed into animals, then changed again into people, coming to stand in front of us. Jake, you had a red bird, a…phoenix yeah that's it. Matt had this green bull or lion, I couldn't be sure. My cousin Kyle had a white falcon. I couldn't see that clearly for the girls or the other guy."

"What about you, Ken? What did you get?" asked Jake, clearly interested in Ken's story no matter how far-fetched it seemed.

"A blue dragon, big body, two arms, two legs, gigantic wings. To be more specific, it looked as if he had lightning dancing all over him. I knew that he was strong though, I could feel it in my bones. Then he changed into a human, wearing blue. He just told me one thing, _'After so long, the time of the Seven is at hand once more. You are the one who will wield me in battle. Make sure you remember my name.' _But even though he said it, I couldn't catch it. I couldn't hear his name. Then just like that, he was gone, and I woke up." Ken finished.

"What about us?"

"I think you guys went through the same thing I did, because your own, uh, beams were talking to you. All of them disappeared simultaneously after that, and that's the whole story. Whether you guys believe it or not." Ken smiled sheepishly after relating his dream, knowing that his friends, like him, found it hard to have faith in such a dream. It was Matt who voiced out the thought running through each of their minds.

"You do realize that something like this only comes out in Power Rangers kind of stories right? The fantasies with the "darkness is coming back and we're the only ones who can stop it" kind of plots? I mean, we're 18, all of us. Aren't we a bit too old for all this?

"Hey, I'm just telling it like it is, alright?' Ken snapped, feeling a bit irritated at Matt's disbelief & also a bit embarrassed about his story. "I saw what I saw, and I'm not lying to you people. Anyway, when I woke up I had this strange feeling that somehow, my family was somehow related to my dream indirectly. That's why I've been worried about them. In any case my family's fine and nothing's happened to us so far right? In the end it's just nothing more than a dream."

**"You may be right about that young Fanell, but would you consider this a dream then?"**

Taken aback by the otherworldly voice, the five teenagers looked around them nervously, trying hard but failing to quell the rising panic in their hearts. They froze as they looked ahead of them. Not fifty meters from where they were standing, a great number of cards had begun materializing out of nothingness, each card colored black & bearing a complex yet sinister purple engraving. Time seemed to stop for the five of them as the cards began to transform, taking the shape of men in black suits. All wore black sunglasses, and all looked indistinguishable. The black mass of suits began to advance towards the five.

"Oh damn."

* * *

Author's notes: There you have it, the first chapter. This fanfic is intended to be a multi-crossover fanfic, influenced by anime, comics and even live-action series eg power rangers & even the kamen rider series, to name a few. Might not seem like much right now, but I've spent a great deal of time thinking over the plots and I promise I'll make this thing BIG. Positive reviews are greatly appreciated and I don't mind criticisms either, so long as they're constructive. 


	2. Chapter 2: Loss

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 2: Loss

Disclaimer: The name Van Fanell is based on the character Van Fanel from Escaflowne while the cursed zombies is a plot concept from X by CLAMP. The organization Mithril in this fanfic is based on Mithril of Full Metal Panic. Van's powers are based on Edward Elric's (Fullmetal Alchemist).

Universe 1566

"Oh damn," muttered the tall stranger as he watched the cards he knew to be scouts for the Chaos Legion materialize and change right in front of his younger brother and his friends. They were cursed zombies, nothing more than enchanted, mindless soldier grunts summoned by a competent Warlord. Yet for grunts they were amazingly adept in combat and were the perfect soldiers. They were expendable. They didn't question orders, following the orders of their master right to the letter. They showed no mercy. Most frighteningly, they were endless. Disintegrate one, and two more would take the fallen one's place. As long as a Warlord kept summoning them, they would keep coming. The tall stranger cursed involuntarily. The Legion had sent at least 50 cursed zombies to subdue the five teenagers. He didn't know if they could handle even 5. He had no backup, his mission was to just observe the five teenagers from a distance. Nonetheless, he couldn't stand there and watch. From his pocket he took out an earpiece and fixed it to his right ear.

"This is Captain Van Fanell. Five of the chosen ones are under attack by cursed zombies, numbering at least 50. No sign of the Warlord and I can't sense the bastard either. I'm moving in to take down the freaks."

"Roger that Captain. Good hunting out there, sir."

* * *

Jake was quickly running through his mind all the options available to them at that moment as the strange beings slowly surrounded their small group completely. Running away was out of the question, not with 50 freaky suits cutting every single escape route.. They had to fight. He had joined Ken's morning trainings every weekend since the two had known each other so he was fairly confident of his own skills. He wasn't worried about Ken who had kept secret his martial arts prowess from almost everybody he had met. While almost all the students at their school thought that Ken Fanell was just another geek without a social life, Jake knew that Ken did not fit that stereotype at all. He knew that although Ken was considered a typical bully magnet with his big glasses, oversized clothes and his schoolbag bursting with his books, he was anything but that. Ken just maintained that image simply because he felt like it. On their first day of high school a few bullies had waylaid Ken with the intention of roughing him up. Jake had quietly watched from a distance, smiling, as Ken had quickly dispatched of his would-be bullies with a few well-placed throws then walked off, dusting his hands while whistling some anonymous tune.

It was the girls and Matt who he was worried about. They didn't know how to fight.

"Matt, Rachel, Cassie. Do any of you know how to fight?"

"No," answered Cassie tersely.

"No, but just let them come at me," Rachel snarled, always the feisty one.

"Not really, but I can throw a punch as well as the next guy," Matt grinned his typical happy-go-lucky grin.

"Fine. The three of you between Ken and me. We're gonna charge through, then make a break for it. I'll take point. Ken, cover our rear. Take out as many as you can without losing sight of us. The rest of you follow me. If this plan fails, Ken and I'll hold as many as we can while you three run and get help. Use your bags as weapons. No arguments, just do as I say."

"No problem, leader-man," smiled Ken. "Should be a piece of cake, hey?"

"GO."

Immediately Ken and Jake sprinted in opposite directions towards the strange men in black, both preparing to swing out with their bags. The other three hesitated a moment, taken aback by their friends' sudden actions. Then they ran after Jake.

At that very moment Captain Van Fanell of the peacekeeping organization Mithril was leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of the five teenagers. Van Fanell was the next in line to take over the leadership of this powerful organization that maintained peace secretly not only in this dimension, Universe 1566, but also various other dimensions from his father. He was only 21 but had earned a well-deserved reputation as one of Mithril's elite metahuman agents, the Preventers. A well-rounded fighter, Van was a very able and competent leader who had served his family's organization well since young. Nobody disputed his recent appointment as their head's right-hand man and the next in line to take over. Captain Van Fanell was wearing a black overcoat over a simple outfit of a white shirt tucked into black pants. A black silk tie, slightly undone, hung loosely from his shirt collar. As he moved closer towards the group, he watched the fight with interest.

The intelligence he had received had been right. His younger brother Ken and the young man Jake Turner were indeed as good as the reports said, Ken more so than his friend. No doubt their father had taught his younger brother well. His friends had potential too, more so than he ever had at their age. Even the great distance between them at that moment could not hide the untapped raw potential that the five had. They were indeed among the chosen seven, the seven individuals known in legends as the Seven Seals. All the more reason to get to them in time and assist them. Van increased his speed.

Meanwhile, Jake had plowed into the mass of black suits in front of him, losing himself in the deadly dance of lashing fists and snapping kicks. Cassie, Rachel and Matt had followed him, showing themselves not averse to dealing out a bit of damage themselves. Ken brought up their rear, fighting more ferociously than he ever had. He couldn't believe just how fast he was moving, how hard his punches and kicks were hitting. He had never fought like this before. The zombies, as that was what he thought of them, seemed to move so slowly. Just as his father had taught him, he kept his movements simple and efficient, allowing himself just a few flashy moves. As the zombie in front threw a punch directly at his face, Ken dived forward, rolled, then launched himself upwards with his arms, his body in a handstand position. His legs, already straightened and tensed, slammed directly into the chin of the zombie who had tried to punch him. He then rode the momentum of his attack, using the face of the zombie as a landing cushion, and jumped forward; following through that attack with a spinning back kick that connected with four more zombies. Crowing, Ken raced off to rejoin his friends as the zombies staggered.

As the group waded further into the cursed zombies, each grew aware of small, subtle changes happening to them. They could sense, almost predict, what the beings were going to do next. The flex of a muscle as an arm drew back for a quick jab, the slight shifting of legs getting ready for a roundhouse kick, all these were simply obvious to the five. To them, the zombies were practically telling them where to hit and what to avoid. Their panic going down and their confidence rising, the five friends pushed further to the edge of the mass of zombies.

They were brought back down to earth by the sudden realization that they hadn't actually hurt the zombies but only delayed them. While they had fought well, Jake and Ken were beginning to tire unlike the zombies who looked as if they could hunt the five down to the ends of the earth. Salvation came in the form of Van who announced his sudden arrival with a flying kick that caught all the combatants unaware. The zombies backed off a slight distance, wary. They knew him, could sense his power. Van took advantage of the zombies' hesitation and immediately knelt down, pressing his palms hard on the ground, concentrating. Ken and his friends could only watch, shocked, as a strange translucent white light began to envelope him A circular seal inscribed with various undecipherable markings was slowly etching itself on the ground on which Van was kneeling, with him at the centre. Slowly, Van Fanell rose and slowly, a long spear rose out from the ground under his right hand.

Van didn't give the zombies any chance to attack. As soon as his spear was out, he grasped it then swung it in a wide arc in front of him, instantly vaporizing five zombies. Then he charged into the rest of the zombies as Ken and his friends looked on in disbelief, mouths gaping.

When the dust had settled, every single one of the zombies had been eliminated. Van walked towards the Chosen Ones, briefly running them over with his eyes for possible injuries.

"You kids alright?" he asked.

"Yeah we're fine thanks so much for your help really appreciate it," blurted out Rachel at top speed, hearts in her eyes as she gazed dreamily at the handsome, cool-looking stranger who had appeared out of nowhere. Beside her, Cassie was wearing the same face as she swooned at Van.

"Don't mention it. I'm just glad I could help," he replied, smiling gently at the two girls, eliciting lovestruck sighs from both. Matt tried not to throw up his lunch, looking repulsed. On the other hand, Jake and Ken were observing the newcomer warily. While they could not deny that the stranger had saved them, he was still an unknown stranger who could be just as dangerous as the zombies.

"We were in quite a pinch there so we're sincerely grateful for your help," said Jake in a calm, measured yet cautious tone. "That doesn't change the fact, however, that you somehow took all those…things on your own easily using some weird technique. The way I see it, you're as much a threat to us as those freaks were so you're gonna have to excuse us if we don't seem to trust you outright."

"Who are you, and what were those things?" asked Matt.

"They were cursed zombies, mindless enchantments conjured up by a powerful sorcerer," replied Van, pointedly ignoring the question about his identity. This was not lost on the three guys who decided not to go further. However, the look on Ken's face instantly changed from wariness to open hostility. "And there is no time for further questions. You must go. If the enemy knows that only I was around to help you, they will send more reinforcements to finish the job."

"Why did they come after us? What's so special about us that they had to send about 50 just to kill us?" asked Ken, finally breaking his silence and making no effort to disguise his anger.

"There isn't time for that, Ken. Now go home."

"How the hell did you know my…" started Ken, but the stranger had suddenly vanished right before their very eyes. The girls were shaking their heads, trying to come down from the temporary high of having a drop-dead gorgeous stranger smiling charmingly at them while Matt was staring in disbelief at them. He still looked slightly nauseated. Ken was stewing at the stranger's reluctance to tell them more while Jake was lost in thought. Abruptly, he suddenly turned around to face Ken, taking him by surprise.

"What?"

"So who was that guy, Ken?"

"How should I know? I've never seen him before?" Ken snapped back.

"Hey, cool it. I'm just asking you a question. No need to bite my head off." At this Ken visibly sagged, the anger withdrawing away from him.

"Sorry. But like I said, I've never seen him before. Why?"

"The way he talked to you, it was as if he knew you quite well. And if you guys didn't notice, he looked a lot like you. Like an older version of you maybe. Hey…you don't have any older brothers do you?"

"No, I'm the eldest in my family. You sure he looks like me?"

"Yeah."

"Man this is too much to deal with in one day. Weird dreams, then weird zombies, then weird people. Yeesh. At least that bugger told us something useful," quipped Ken.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"That we should all just go home…" Ken's voice trailed off as he realized something. A terrified look came over his face.

"Hey, what's up with that look on your face?"

"Home…" said Ken, dazed. "Oh shit, my family." Then he ran off as fast as he could back home.

"Hey, Ken where're you going! Hey, wait up!"

* * *

"How did it go, Van? Is your younger brother alright?"

"Ken's fine, Dad. I managed to get there in time the zombies could do anything serious," replied Van into his earpiece as he headed as fast as he could toward the Fanell residence ahead of Ken. "Looks like you taught him well Dad. He can really fight. Hell, I'm positive he's better than I was at his age."

Back at his house, Karl Fanell chuckled affectionately. "I suppose he gave you a hard time, then. Where are you now, son?"

"Heading back to the house. I think Ken's probably doing the same thing. Dad, is it true? Are the Chaos Legion really gonna try and kill you right now?

"I've no doubt about it. How are things at headquarters?"

"Brian just contacted me, says everything's ready for you and the rest of the family. How're things on your side?"

"We're ready to leave. You mother and I just finished explaining the situation to your younger siblings. They're a bit shocked, to say the least."

"I just bet." Then Van heard a series of explosions over his earpiece. "Dad," he said urgently. "You gonna be all right?" He was worried, and rightly so.

"Yes. We're going now," his father replied in an equally urgent tone. "We'll be fine, son. You just keep an eye out for your younger brother and his friends. They've got a lot riding on their shoulders. Especially Ken and his friend Jake."

"All right. Be careful, Dad." The connection cut off, Van landed on the highest branch of a nearby tree and watched anxiously as a series of explosions rocked the evening and a house not far away began to blaze.

* * *

As soon as they heard the explosions, Ken and his friends ran even faster towards the direction of his house. Just over the horizon, a sinister red glow lit up the evening sky. Ken's heart caught in his throat. The feeling that all the strange things happening to him that day were connected to his family had only intensified the moment he had heard the stranger tell him and his friends to go home. To compound his fears, he'd noticed that the sudden red glow in the sky was coming from the direction of his house. The other four had noticed it too, but were clueless as to why Ken was looking even more terrified at the sight of it, with the exception of Jake who had a hunch.

"That ain't no normal sunset, man," panted Matt as he struggled to keep up with Ken.

"It's not a sunset. It's something else.," began Jake as they neared a corner road leading to Ken's house. "I think it's a fire," he finished as they turned the corner and were greeted by a house fiercely burning. Residents had evacuated their own houses for safety and they were now staring silently at the inferno from a safe distance. In the distance, the blare of fire engines could be heard as the five simply stood there shocked.

Ken let out a soft moan of anguish. "No…not my house…not my family. I gotta get in there." He moved to his house when he was pulled back roughly on the shoulder by Jake, who shook his head somberly.

"What are you doing, Jake! My family's in there! I gotta get in there, I gotta get them out!"

"You'll be burnt alive, you fool, the whole place's on fire! The fire department will do its job!"

"NO! It'll be too late, dammit! I can help get them out, I can do something!"

"There's nothing you can do, Ken! Let the experts handle this!

"Let…me…GO!" With that Ken pulled free from Jake's grip and ran towards the inferno that was his house. Jake looked at Matt, who nodded. Both then gave chase to Ken, Matt running slightly faster. Ken never noticed his two friends tackling him from behind, so preoccupied was he with trying to save his family. He did, however, register the punch to his left cheek that Ken gave him.

"The hell was that for!"

"To wake you up," replied Jake angrily. Then more gently, he continued. "There's nothing you can do right now, Ken, you have to realize that. Your parents may not be in the house, they could've gotten out. You just need to calm down."

"No…my family…they're gone, guys. I don't know how, I just…know it,' replied Ken managed to choke out over the tears running fast down his face. Having nothing to say about that, The other four just stood around Ken as he sobbed quietly, mourning the loss of his entire family.

* * *

Author's notes: Hope you liked reading the second chapter. As always, positive reviews are most welcome. I'll try to have chapter 3 up ASAP.


	3. Chapter 3: Aftermath

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 3: Aftermath

Disclaimer: The concept of the Seven Seals belongs to the manga group CLAMP. However, my main Seven Seals are my own original characters. All aforementioned anime series listed so far in the previous chapters do not belong to me at all.

Universe 1566

When the fire had finally been extinguished the five went over to one of the cops in hopes of getting some answers. By this time, Ken had visibly calmed down and was asking about his family in a composed voice while the rest looked on.

"There were no signs of my family? At all?"

"Afraid so, kid. Eyewitness reports say that there was nobody in the house at all. There were no signs of escape, just one big fire."

"That can't be right, officer. My dad messaged me on my cellphone just now, he told me that the whole family had just come back. They should've been at home."

"Well, son, all I can say is that we haven't found anything yet that suggests they were here. Now if you'll excuse me, I got work to do and you need to come with me."

"Hey wait a second!" burst in Rachel indignantly. "He didn't do anything!"

"I know that, you four have vouched for him. But since there's no one here to claim guardianship over him yet, he'll have to come with us until a suitable guardian can be found. The kid needs a place to stay for the time being anyway."

"Oh, right."

"Hey, it's cool guys. I'll be fine. Really. I need to know all I can about what happened anyway and the cops can totally help with that."

"Actually, I was under the impression that it was going to be the other way around, kid."

"Right, whatever," Ken snorted dismissively. Then he smiled reassuringly at his friends. "I'll meet up with you guys tomorrow morning for breakfast if possible. I'll tell you all I've learned, okay?"

Having agreed upon a meeting place, the group split up, Ken walking off with the police officer while the other four walked back towards their own houses, thinking about all the strange things that had happened that day. After a while, Matt and Rachel went off in different directions leaving Jake and Cassie. As they walked hand in hand they discussed.

"You know, Jake…Ken didn't seem all that upset after a while. I mean, when we first saw the fire he was freaking out badly but after we calmed him down he seemed so…" mentioned Cassie thoughtfully.

"…In control?" finished Jake.

"Yeah."

"I was expecting that, actually."

"Huh?" Cassie immediately stopped and turned to face her boyfriend. "Seriously?"

"Yep. You see, Ken isn't what he seems most of the time. The school geek impression that people at school have of him is just an act. He's nothing at all like that. I've known him since we were toddlers, Cassie, and he's always been a calm, composed dude. You and Rachel and Matt don't know him that well but he likes to keep things to himself, that boy."

"So he's emotionless? Like a robot?"

"No, he's just real good at controlling his emotions. It could be because of all his training but he's got a real slow fuse; it takes a LOT to make him angry. Usually, if he's pissed off he keeps his anger level to a frown, maybe a scowl and even that's rare. I can count with one hand the number of times I've actually seen him explode. Not only that, he cools down real quick. He forgives people easily; it's part of his character. It's hard for him to be angry and to _stay _angry. Right now, I know he's worried sick about his family but he's keeping all that emotion inside him," explained Jake

"That's not helping him any." Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe that's what you think but I figure it does help him. It focuses him, gives him the drive needed to get to the bottom of this mystery," Jake shot back.

"The mystery of the missing family?"

"Yeah. There's something more to this, and I can't help but feel that the fire was related to this afternoon."

"The one with that hunky dreamboat?" sighed Cassie, eyes misting over at the memory of the tall, handsome stranger.

"Oh c'mon Cass…"

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

Commanders Karl and Jessica Fanell, respectively the overall head and head of the medical squads of Mithril led their family, currently consisting of their youngest son Sam and their two daughters Lisa and Ally, down the long corridors leading to the main offices of Mithril. As they walked purposely, their children were looking around, bewildered. Life for the three had drastically changed in a matter of a few hours. They had escaped their burning house while finding out at the same time that their parents were more than just the head of a small security company and a doctor respectively. They had found out that they each had different powers which had just been triggered by their parents. And now they were on their way to meet up with their two elder brothers who they had originally thought to be miscarried babies.

The faces of their parents, however, were portraits of calm, of people in control who knew what they were doing. People who the three children had clearly never seen before, people of various nationalities, were snapping to rigid attention and were saluting their parents who nonchalantly returned the salutes. Most were dressed in smart military attire and were clearly busy yet stopped respectfully to salute two ordinary civilians who were headed to the main offices with their three children.

"Sis, this is unreal," muttered Sam to his older sister Lisa.

"Tell me about it."

"You don't think we're having a dream, do you?"

"Together at the same time? I don't think so. Let's just go with it, see what happens."

"If you say so."

* * *

Universe 1566: Jake Turner

It was 2 in the morning when I woke from my dream. I was tired from the events of that day. Ken's dream, the zombies and the stranger, the fire. It took me a long time to fall asleep and yet after the dream I just had, I simply couldn't go back to sleep. It was gonna be a long night and the knowledge of that did nothing to get rid of my fatigue. I lay back, closed my eyes. Tossed and turned. Useless. I couldn't sleep, kept going over and over the dream. It had been so surreal, so unbelievably ridiculous.

And yet it seemed right. Somehow…somehow I found myself accepting all that the dream had told me.

Let's recap, shall we?

After I had walked Cassie back to her house, I had walked home, replaying the events of just now through my head continuously. I had a feeling all of them were linked to one another in one way or another, yet I couldn't piece them together. Throughout the journey I went over them repeatedly. Still nothing. My head was throbbing. One big headache.

I managed to solve one problem, though. It was decided, after talking it over with my parents, that Ken could stay with us for the time being. Like I told Cassie, we'd been friends since toddlers. He was my best friend. We'd been through thick and thin together. I owed him anyway. So that was one problem solved.

A cold shower did nothing to get rid of the headache. My head was still muddled, all the random thoughts and emotions and gut instincts about what had happened jumbled up in one big mess. This sucked. I was tired, my head was aching and I couldn't sleep. Brilliant. Finally, though, I managed to fall asleep.

And I dreamed.

It was exactly as Ken had described it, barring a few extra details. Maybe he had forgotten them. Or maybe he just didn't care. It was a weird dream, after all. The seven of us, the seven people Ken had described, were standing on a vast green field in a circle facing each other. Cassie was standing on my left, Ken on my right. In front of me was the seventh guy, the one Ken didn't know. I didn't know him either. He had short, straight black hair that fell just over his eyes. He looked to be about the same age as the "dreamboat" stranger. It was his eyes that caught my attention. Piercing black eyes. This was clearly someone not to be messed with.

It was then that they came. The seven "beams of light" that Ken had spoken of. Just like he said, they were of different colors, and they changed as they got closer. I soon realized why Ken had said that he couldn't quite make out what the others were doing or what the other beams of light looked like. Except for mine, the other six beams rapidly moved to the six people who were standing, blocking their line of sight. And Ken's blue dragon was massive. It looked like one of those dragons you read about in fairy tales. It wasn't like those Chinese dragons with the long bodies but more like the dragon in Sleeping Beauty. Lightning danced all around the dragon, coursed through his skin. The creature was just bristling with energy. To say that it was intimidating was an understatement.

On my right, Cassie's pink beam of light was changing. A flash of pink light, and all that remained was a black panther cub. It was glowing a muted pink all over. It did look cute, I admit. One big kitten. Yet just glancing at it, I knew it was just as special as Ken's dragon, just as dangerous. And then the last beam of light which had all this while been hovering at the centre of the circle streaked down towards me.

It was still a great distance from me, a tiny red speck in the sky, but even from that distance I could feel the heat it was generating. Strangely, the heat gradually began to disappear, leaving a curious but enjoyable warmth. He was a red phoenix, a magnificent creature. Words fail me. I don't even know what to say to describe the phoenix's majesty. Flames licked every part of him, completely engulfing him. He spoke to me, the exact same words that Ken had said.

'_After so long, the time of the Seven is at hand once more. You are the one who will wield me in battle. Make sure you remember my name.'_ I have to admit, his words did send chills running through my spine. But he had more for me. _'You are the chosen leader as well. Your friends will depend on you, yet you must learn to look to them for assistance when you need it. Heed my advice and do not forget your responsibility.'_ Like Ken, I couldn't make out his name when he said it either.

It was at that time that I awoke. I couldn't go to sleep after that. No matter how hard I tried.

* * *

Universe 1566: The next day

In the morning, Jake and his father went to the police department to take custody of Ken temporarily. The two teens were then dropped off at the park and proceeded to meet up with their friends at their agreed meeting place. The two were surprised to see a new addition to their group: Ken's younger cousin Kyle Freeman, the one who had been present in Ken's dream. However, they weren't so surprised on seeing their friends staggering from lack of sleep, like them. Evidently the rest had had sleepless nights themselves.

"What are we doing here? Isn't this the spot where we got ambushed by all those crazies yesterday?" asked Rachel indignantly.

"We're here because I thought we could find some clues about yesterday. Plus, I figured being here might help us think better," explained Jake patiently, trying not to sound as tired as he felt.

"Yeah, but what if those zombies come back for round two?"

"Lightning doesn't hit the same place twice."

"You know, there was this one time…"chimed in Cassie, smiling, trying to cheer up her glum friends. When that didn't work, she changed tack. "So…did we all have our weird dreams yesterday?"

Five heads instantly snapped up, shocked. Rachel was the first to recover.

"You had a dream, too? Something like Ken's dream?"

"Yes. I take it the rest of you had your own dreams?"

"I had a repeat telecast," muttered Ken resentfully, rubbing his eyes. "You'd think one time was enough, but no…"

"**I suppose, for you, once just isn't enough…ah well. Fools like you and your friends probably need a lot of punishments to learn, I imagine."**

And then the black cards appeared again, rapidly changing into the cursed zombies.

"What was that about lightning not hitting the same place twice again?"

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

At that moment, Commander Karl Fanell of the peacekeeping organization Mithril was locked inside his office with his advisory committee, discussing subsequent plans of action regarding the Chaos Legion while his eldest son Van stood by his side quietly. Outside, his second child Brian was overseeing the intelligence gathering by his communication specialists. His wife and the rest of his children milled about in the intelligence room trying to pass time when the alarms sounded.

Van immediately tapped the 'connect' button on his fixed earpiece, bringing up a voice connection with his younger brother. "What's up, Brian?"

"The Seals are under attack again, bro. All of the remaining six are together. I've got three Warlords and about 150 cursed zombies detected. They're going for the kill this time, Van. We need to do something fast."

The young captain conversed quietly and briefly with his father, then spoke into the earpiece in a clear, ringing tone. "Get Isaac down there now," he ordered. "It's time all the Seals were gathered together. I'm going down too. You're on standby."

"Again? Man, how come you always get to go down?" grumbled Lieutenant Brian Fanell. Then he sighed. "Orders acknowledged, sir. I'll send down Isaac at once."

* * *

Universe 1566

"Man, I am **so **not in the mood for this," Ken growled as he and Jake both shifted into fighting stances side by side. Behind them, the other four tensed visibly as the zombies slowly advanced upon them. "What the hell do you want with us? We don't even know you, we don't want anything to do with you people and yet you come here and try to 'punish' us. What did we do to you to deserve this? Nothing!"

**"It's not a matter of what you did to us," **answered the disembodied voice silkily. **"It's more to do with what you'll_ do_ to us. You six are dangerous to us, to our plans. We can't have that."**

"Yeah well, tough cookies, pal. I don't plan on dying today. Sixty years from now, maybe, when I'm too wasted from Alzheimer's to hear the sounds of my arthritic bones rattling in their sockets," retorted Ken defiantly.

"Y'know, sometimes I'd really like to know what goes on in that brain of yours," whispered Matt softly, rolling his eyes at Ken's morbid description of his future self.

The disembodied voice just laughed sinisterly in reaction to Ken's comeback. Then three figures cloaked in black with their hoods up materialized behind the advancing zombies. The six couldn't see their eyes. What they could see, though, were the twisted, evil smiles that slowly appeared on the faces of the three cloaked figures. When they spoke, they spoke together, the same disembodied voice echoing from their mouths. It was as if the three figures were part of another being.

**"Unfortunately, it seems we can't give you sixty years. But we're feeling generous. We'll give you sixty seconds to reflect and reminisce about the good things in life that you all have enjoyed because frankly, you won't be able to enjoy them anymore. You may thank us , if you want."**

"For what? I sure as hell don't owe you anything."

**"But we are giving you the chance to reunite with your useless, dead family, fool. Wouldn't you like to see them again?" **asked all three figures. Enjoying Ken's sudden, angry reaction to this, they continued to needle him. **"Your father was an idiot," **they stated flatly, coldly. **"If he hadn't been too busy trying to get your mother and siblings to escape instead of fighting us, he might still be alive. Instead, like the sentimental fool he was, he concentrated on their safety and well-being."**

"Don't you talk about my father like that," snarled Ken, on the verge of losing control, his 'slow fuse' finally lit.

**"Or maybe he was just a spineless coward,"** continued the three, thoroughly enjoying themselves. **"Mybe he was too scared to face us. Well, whatever. Karl Fanell was an irritating, meddlesome obstacle who had to be removed. It really doesn't matter how we got rid of him, eh?"**

"Rrragghh!" Ken finally snapped, and he charged straight into the zombies, plowing headfirst into the black mass while the other five stood there gaping, dumbstruck at what they were witnessing. A split second later, Jake followed suit after recovering from his shock. The other four took slightly longer to come back to their senses, then rushed towards the zombies.

* * *

Meanwhile, Van and the last member of the foretold Seven Seals Isaac Matthews were bounding between rooftops towards the other Seals as fast as they could. The safety of the remaining six Seals was foremost on their minds. Both were powerful fighters who were could confidently take out the zombies and their Warlord masters. Then again, the two friends were trained professionals. All the other six had was raw potential which, at that moment, wasn't enough. Furthermore, they were up against 150 mindless minions and their bloodthirsty summoners. If Van and Isaac didn't make it in time, the six teenagers who had been decreed to be the preordained protectors of the world would be killed and all hope would be lost. Spurred on by this thought, they sped up.

Until they suddenly felt the spark of pure electrical energy from Ken who was still about 2 kilometers away. This was an unexpected development. His powers were awakening.

* * *

Like before, the six felt the subtle changes that had occurred to them during their previous encounter with the zombies. Once more they could sense, almost predict the movements of their opponents. Kyle was new to this sensation but quickly adapted to it. However, this time the other five could feel something more within them. They could feel the noticeable lack of fatigue despite having fought hard for ten minutes. Granted, only Jake and Ken were the ones who could actually fight well, yet even so, all six of them were not feeling tired one bit and instead felt as if they could keep it up all day.

It was Ken who showed something more first. As he fought, Rachel and Kyle who were the two closest to him noticed that he had begun to glow slightly blue. After a while, they could have sworn they saw blue sparks crackle all over his bare skin. They observed too, that the zombies he was fighting were staying down longer than their own opponents after he had dealt with them. Shortly after, a sudden red flash to their right caught their eye. This time it was Jake who had slowly begun to glow red, a curious warmth emanating from him. The Warlords noticed this and immediately ordered their puppets wordlessly to break off their attack on the other four and overwhelm Jake and Ken.

Half of the zombies converged upon Ken and leaped at him, totally engulfing him within them. The fighting broke off as the other five stared at the swarm of zombies, each hoping frantically that Ken was still alive. For a heart-stopping moment in which time seemed to pass forever, there was no movement. And then suddenly…

"**Stop…pissin'…me…off!**" bellowed Ken Fanell from within the black mass all over him as the zombies were suddenly blasted away from wave upon wave of pure blue electrical energy, temporarily blinding his friends and the Warlords nearby. They opened their eyes to see Ken standing tall, his eyes glowing a translucent blue, his fists half-clenched. Lightning coursed through his upper torso and head, even reaching his eyes. Through his arms, the blue lightning flowed to manifest itself into two uneven yet dangerous-looking spheres of electricity in his hands. Additionally, only the other five could barely make out the very faint outline of a blue dragon floating protectively above Ken.

The zombies that had tried to swarm Ken lay around him, motionless. They suddenly disintegrated into nothingness. The hooded faces of the Warlords displayed absolute shock at the sight of half their combined forces instantly vaporized.

Ken smiled coldly at the Warlords and the remaining cursed zombies, his expression laced with barely controlled fury.

"Now…where were we again?"

* * *

A/N: Finally…Chapter 3 finished. Took me a couple of sleepless nights but I'm happy with the end product. As always, reviews are much welcomed and I hope to have the next chapter up within the next week. Stay tuned for Chapter 4: Awakening. 


	4. Chapter 4: Awakening

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 4: Awakening

Disclaimer: The name Van Fanell does not belong to me but to the creators of Escaflowne. Neither is "Bagheera" a creation of mine. Mithril too does not belong to me.

Universe 1566:

Both Van and Isaac were caught unawares when Ken suddenly awakened his lightning powers. The raw power that blasted from him was so strong that even the two who were still a distance away were knocked backwards by the force. Taken aback, the two halted and focused their senses on Ken, trying to get a basic gauge on his current level of power. To their amazement, they sensed another powerful aura near him growing steadily; one that was equal to or possibly even stronger than Ken's power. Jake.

Meanwhile, Matt, Rachel, Cassie and Kyle gaped at both Jake and Ken who were now glowing red and blue respectively, fire and lightning dancing around them. In contrast, both the two friends didn't seem to be surprised about their current states. Both were instead standing facing the three Warlords and the remainder of the cursed zombies, quiet determination on their faces.

**"So…your powers have awakened."**

"Really? Hadn't noticed," replied Jake nonchalantly, as if gaining unbelievable power was an everyday thing. Beside him, Ken smirked appreciatively at his comeback.

**"You should know better than to offend us, young Seal. We have annihilated countless mortals like you, dumb fools who get arrogant and think that we are easy prey just because they suddenly gained powers themselves."**

"We're different. Ken took out half your force without breaking a sweat. I'm betting it can be done again."

**"Is that what you truly believe?"**

As if on cue, more cursed zombies began to form around the six Seals, so much so that all they could see were rows and rows of cursed zombies decked out in black suits. It was pointless to even try and roughly gauge the number of zombies. The warlords suddenly vanished from their sight. It was unknown whether they had gone away or were invisible, letting their zombies do their dirty work. The scene was like the big fight in the second Matrix movie, only the number of opponents was far greater. Things were beginning to look hopeless.

* * *

"Guess that's my cue," said Isaac grimly as Van, squatting beside him, nodded in agreement.

"Hurry. They won't last long against that many. Plus there could be innocent bystanders nearby."

Isaac's reaction to this was a reassuring smile to his old friend. His body glowed a soft purple briefly, then he suddenly disappeared, leaving no trace that he had been there except a blurry, vague trail of purple light in the direction of the six teenagers.

* * *

At this point, Jake and Ken were only interested in protecting their friends, now spread out all around the area fighting. While they worried about their own chances of survival, the safety of their four friends was a greater priority. Cassie was already nursing an ugly gash down her right arm while the right side of Matt's face was obscured by blood from a wound above his right eye. Rachel was limping while trying to avoid the zombies. Kyle's left arm hung strangely by his side; it was broken. Jake and Ken were better off but still sported minor injuries.

Slowly, as the fighting drew on, the cursed zombies surrounded the six teenagers leaving no possible opening for escape. Back to back they stood, still defying those who had come for their lives. Jake's and Ken's powers were waning; their bodies were not yet used to handling the immense power that both wielded.

"Any ideas?" Ken wheezed, almost doubled over from pain.

"Besides fighting to the end?" asked Jake grimly.

"Yeah. Worst case scenario, I'll go down fighting but it would be nice to get out of this alive."

"I second that motion. I've got homework and I can't afford another C-minus," chipped in Kyle. That earned a brief smile from the other five before their attention was drawn back on the zombies who were again changing. The zombies had now split up into seven groups and were, strangely, merging with each other within their groups. The six teenagers could only stare in horrified fascination as seven masses of black cloth and flesh bulged and contracted in front of them, twisting into weird shapes of varying sizes. Finally, the transformation stabilized and the zombies were now seven human-like creatures.

The seven transformed zombies were no longer decked in black suits but normal, albeit tattered and torn, civilian clothing. They could have posed as normal humans if not for a few distinguishing traits. There was the ragged clothing, for one. They had upturned, pointed ears and razor-sharp claws for fingernails. The most frightening about them, however, was the sinister black gleam of their eyes. They looked like demons. Without warning the zombies suddenly leapt at their quarry, their claws glinting in the morning sun. It was at this time when a young man, familiar to the six teens, with short, straight black hair suddenly just appeared in front of them. In his right hand were five long, rectangular white cards, each with a star inscribed on it in black ink. Muttering an incantation, he flicked the cards at the seven zombies leaping right at him.

Instantly the cards positioned themselves in mid-air. Purple light linked the cards to one another such that the end result was a star made out of purples lines of light with the cards as its points. As the stranger opened his hand bigger, so too did the star. The star acted as a force-field of sorts, as evidenced by the loud crash of the zombies against it. However, the stranger was not done yet. Making a hand-seal with his right hand, he swung it in a wide arc in front of him. Immediately the cards, which were currently acting as the points of his star-shaped energy shield, sped towards the zombies, transforming themselves simultaneously into small bird-shaped figures. Prepared for this, the zombies jumped away trying to avoid the sharp beaks of their enemy's enchantments. One was too slow, however, and the birds, sensing this, homed in on it and tore it into pieces upon contact.

Registering this new threat, the remaining six demons peeled off from the teenagers and attacked the stranger. Before they even got close, however, they were slammed back by energy blasts of fire and lightning from Jake and Ken respectively. The stranger nodded his thanks, and then sent another wave of cards against the zombies. Without waiting, Jake and Ken powered up then launched themselves at the zombies for a second assault, granting the other four a short reprieve.

The six remaining zombies were only focused on destroying the seven of them and thus did not care much about the damage they were causing to the surroundings, something which Jake was concerned about. "We gotta take care of these goons fast before they do any more damage," he remarked worriedly to Ken and the stranger who were beside him, each taking on two zombies at the same time.

"I might be able to help," replied the stranger, at the same time blasting all six of the zombies back with a blast of purple energy. He took a step forward, then stopped, seemingly lost in thought. "And my name's Isaac," he added as an afterthought. "Nice to meet you guys."

"Likewise."

Isaac clapped his hands together, and then made a hand seal with his right hand, his fingers closed except for his index and middle fingers which were straightened. His hand was in the shape of a gun, so to speak. It was at the two fingers that the six teenagers saw the beginnings of a bright spark of violet light. The spark began to transform itself. Fascinated, Jake and Ken watched nearby as the spark became a purple star lying in mid-air above Isaac's straightened index fingers. Isaac's eyes, which had been closed all this time while he was concentrating, opened slowly.

"Spirit…shield."

To the amazement of the six human onlookers, the purple star began to rise and grow at the same time, encompassing them, Isaac and the zombies within it. Ken and Jake were blatantly staring at Isaac as he focused on his "spirit shield", a small smile on his lips.

"Dude…"

At last, the star-shaped shield stopped expanding. By this time, it had become so large that all the six teens could see were five purple walls of light in the far distance. Looking up, they could not see the azure sky, a sign of the beautiful weather that day, only a gigantic purple star in the sky. They were sealed in by the spirit shield. Satisfied, Isaac turned to his fellow Seals. "Now we can fight properly…without holding back."

Amazed by this new development, Jake and Ken just stood marveling at the spirit shield that had been erected around them, failing to notice that the zombies had recovered. It was only when the zombies let out their collective battle cry, a scream of feral rage, that Jake, Ken and Isaac caught on to what was going on. As they readied themselves for the oncoming attack, they suddenly felt a rush of energy from behind them. Ducking immediately, the three looked up to see the leading zombie of the pack stopped dead in his tracks, frozen in position, then split into half. Astonished, they turned behind them to see Kyle in front of the other three, his right arm outstretched and covered in a swirling white current of energy.

"Uh…heh…what did I just do?" Kyle asked sheepishly.

"Wind," muttered Isaac quietly, more to himself than anything. Then he turned to face Cassie, Matt and Rachel who were still standing there, dumbstruck. "What're you three waiting for? Break-time's over kiddies. Hurry up and awaken your powers. The squirt's here already done his part."

"Um, I'm not a squir -" broke in Kyle indignantly, but he was cut off by two zombies now intent on killing him. "Whoa. I…uh…never mind…how did I do whatever I did just now again?"

Fortunately for him, his cousin was able to buy him time by flinging a ball of compressed lightning at one of the two attacking zombies, obliterating it instantly. Ducking, Kyle rolled to one side and then, in a moment of clarity, slashed at the air in front of him with his right hand, the other zombie dead-set in front of his line of sight. Instantly the zombie was cut in half by the razor wind that he had generated from the slashing motion.

As Kyle bent over, panting, he was aware of his older cousin standing beside him.

"Not bad, you took out two of those freaks. Wind razors eh?" remarked Ken. "Y'know, that's actually pretty cool."

"Thanks."

* * *

Van put down his binoculars and sighed. Up till the point where Isaac had set up his spirit shield, he had been able to see all the action. By setting up the shield, Isaac had sealed all the combatants within it, ensuring that all innocent bystanders, including Van were not drawn into the battle. Tapping his earpiece, Van opened up a voice connection to Mithril HQ. Brian's voice came on the line.

"How's it going, bro?"

"Jake and Ken awakened their powers, Brian. The cursed zombies merged with each other and changed into cursed demons, seven of them. Isaac took one out, then set up his spirit shield, drawing in the demons, himself and the other Seals. Since I'm not one of the Seven Seals, I don't know what happened after that. The battle's still going on, as far as I can tell. No sign of the Warlords still. My best guess is that Isaac drew them into the shield too. I'm heading to the site of the battle now, maybe I'll meet up with them once the battle's over."

"Copy that. Brian Fanell out."

Sighing again, Van dropped down from his perch and walked towards the site of the battle leisurely, whistling. He was not too worried about the Seals now that Isaac was there. Furthermore, his younger brother and Jake had already awakened their powers and were trained fighters so he was fairly confident that they would win.

* * *

It turned out that Van's guess was right after all. With Kyle having sliced up two of the cursed zombies and Ken and Isaac each destroying one, three of the seven zombies remained, outnumbered against four powered-up Seals. This warranted a change in plans so they broke off their attacks on the four and decided to gang up against Rachel. Wickedly curved blades sprouted from their elbows or wrists as they leapt at the girl, arms raised, ready to carve her up.

What they didn't count on was Matt suddenly rushing in to protect her and awakening his earth powers at the same time. Green light suddenly erupted around him, throwing back all three of the remaining zombies with the force. He then punched the ground hard with his right hand, and three enormous boulders sprouted from the ground, hovering in mid-air. With a snap of his fingers, Matt sent the boulders at the zombies, one for each of them. As the boulders smashed into the zombies hard, Matt punched the ground again, this time with both hands. The rest watched, impressed, as soil, dirt and small rocks began to stream up Matt's arms up to his shoulders and envelop them. The zombies got up from under the rocks to see Matt charging straight at them, his arms fully covered in solid-hard rock. Two of them managed to avoid his attack. The last one was not so lucky. With all the force he could muster, Ken punched right through the zombie's gut. As the surprised zombie turned to rock itself then crumbled into bits, Matt simply stood there, utter shock on his face. Then a big smile began to spread on his face.

"Nice. Very nice," he remarked, trying very hard to act casual. He then turned to face Rachel who was looking on jealously and gleefully flashed her a thumbs-up sign.

"Hah!" he crowed. "Beat that, girlie!"

Gnashing her teeth furiously, Rachel accepted Matt's challenge and concentrated hard with her eyes closed, intent on awakening her own powers.

"Uh, aren't you two going about this the wrong way?" Kyle cautioned. Beside him, Isaac shook his head in resignation.

As a yellow light began to surround Rachel, Jake decided to concentrate on more serious matters, namely the three Warlords. While they were nowhere to be seen, he was sure that they were still in the area encased by Isaac's spirit shield. He noticed too that Ken and Isaac too had had the same idea, as both were scanning the area intently for any sign.

Having finally awakened her own powers, Rachel opened her eyes to see both of the two zombies rushing straight at her, claws extended. Immediately she focused on generating two balls of light from her hands to be used against them when out of nowhere a black panther cub, bathed in soft pink light, attacked the zombie coming in from her right and mauled it. Taking advantage of this distraction, she jumped left, holding the two balls of light in front of her. The other zombie, going too fast, ran right into the two spheres and instantly disintegrated. Meanwhile, the panther cub was dodging attack after attack from the last zombie. Finally finding an opening, it twisted and jumped, biting the zombie fatally at its throat. As the last of the zombies lay on the ground in its death throes, the cub ran back to a kneeling Cassie, who smiled fondly at it as she stroked its head and scratched behind its right ear. It seemed that Cassie too had awakened her powers.

It was at this juncture that the Warlords decided to attack personally. A hooded figure rose from the ground behind Cassie, its clawed hand drawing out a wicked-looking blade from within its black cloak. As it raised its arm to attack, the cub snarled audibly and leapt at the Warlord, fangs bared. Cassie rolled forward, away from the danger, calling her panther familiar to her at the same time.

"Bagheera!" she yelled as the cub, responding to her call, ran back to her and began to change into a sword itself. Grabbing the sword, she ran towards the Warlord meeting it head-on. With a fierce slash, she managed to destroy it, slashing it in half. An incensed scream of outrage, and the two remaining Warlords materialized behind her, preparing to cut her with their own swords, when Jake and Ken suddenly appeared out of nowhere before them. Kyle, Matt and Rachel gasped in disbelief, their mouths hanging open. Behind them, Isaac narrowed his eyes. _'Instant movement. These two are better than I thought.'_

Cassie stood there dumbstruck, Bagheera already reverting back to its panther cub form, as Jake and Ken each thrust their right hands which were crackling and glowing with their respective elemental powers straight through the Warlords, impaling them. The two then punched away the Warlords with their left fists and powered down, still ready for any more surprises. The two dying Warlords were on the ground. Blood pooled around them from their injuries.

**"It would seem…that we…underestimated you…you seven are as good as the legends say…your powers are strong, magnificent."**

The seven Seals, a panther cub perched on the head on one of them, watched quietly as the Warlords struggled with themselves.

**"But this…is just the beginning. There are those stronger than us…who will have learnt from our mistake of underestimating you…who will show no mercy to you…they will destroy you…and there is nothing you can do about it…"**

The two Warlords, life fading from them, began laughing horribly upon this statement, mocking the Seals. Their cackling was unbearable to the seven. As the two inhuman creatures lay on the ground choking on their blood while still laughing their sinister and forbidding laugh, the Seals walked away without a second glance at the Warlords, each lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

The six teenagers followed Isaac to the rooftop of a three-storey building. It was here that they saw for themselves the magnitude of Isasc's spirit shield which they were still in. Their injuries had strangely been cured by Isaac, who gave no explanation as to how he did it. When he stopped abruptly, they followed suit, looking at him curiously. Isaac faced the open sky and again made the same hand seal that he had made when creating his spirit shield, closing his eyes in concentration as he did so. As the other six looked on, the spirit shield began to shrink, its centre focused on Isaac's hand seal. It kept on shrinking until finally it was no more than a tiny violet star resting in his open hand. Isaac closed his hand around the shield, thus dispelling it. He opened his eyes and turned around to see the six teenagers looking at him, neutral yet guarded expressions on their faces. He knew they had a million questions for him.

"Come with me. My boss will tell you all you want to know about just now, how I did what I just did, and so on. He can give you the answers you seek."

"Can we trust you?" asked Jake warily.

"Yes," replied Isaac simply. It was that simple statement, made in such a sincere tone that led the six to agree to trust Isaac. Isaac then drew out from his pocket an earpiece, attached it to his right ear and tapped it once. He tapped it again to enable the earpiece's speakerphone function

"This is Isaac Matthews to Mithril HQ. All of the Warlords and their cursed zombies have been taken care of. The Seals are safe, and they want to know the truth. Orders?"

Ken was completely unprepared for the voice that replied. "This is Commander Karl Fanell speaking." He noticed too that Isaac was caught unawares too, judging by the way he suddenly snapped to attention even there was no one else around except for the seven of them and the cub.

"Sir," said Isaac formally, acknowledging his superior.

"Isaac, the technicians are setting up a warp portal about 100 metres due north from where you are. Head there with the other Seals. I've already told Van to rendezvous with you all there." He was about to continue when Ken broke in suddenly, his voice choked with emotion.

"Dad! You're alive? What about Mom? And Lisa and Sam and Ally? Are they okay?"

"Calm down son," chuckled Karl over the voice connection. "We're fine, all of us."

"Then what happened yesterday? Why did we get attacked by those zombie freaks? Or those hooded cloaked creepy dudes?"

"One thing at a time, son," chided Karl gently, "Please go with Isaac, all of you. Once we meet, I will tell you everything myself. This is not the place for what I have to tell you all. " The connection was cut abruptly. Isaac looked up questioningly at the six youths before him. "So? What's your decision?"

"I'm going, no question about it," Ken stated firmly.

"I'm in, too. I want to know what's going on," added Jake. The other four hesitated slightly, then nodded in agreement. With that, Isaac signaled for them to follow him to the warp point, and then walked off without waiting. The rest looked at each other before following suit, heading out into an unknown place where the answers to their questions were.

* * *

"Unbelievable," Matt exclaimed angrily, embarrassment evident in his voice, "the portal is here! Of all places, it had to be here!"

"The tech people always did love their little jokes," Isaac sighed wearily, running a hand through his hair. Jake, Ken and Kyle were clustered behind him. They each wore expressions that were part embarrassment, part revulsion. Strangely, the girls didn't seem to be uncomfortable. Instead they were completely relaxed and were actually having a good laugh at the boys' expense. It was probably due to the fact that the 'warp portal' they had been looking for was in fact situated inside the park's public toilet for ladies.

"Aw, is ickle Mattie scared of going into a ladies' toilet?" smirked Rachel at the guys, thoroughly enjoying the moment. Cassie was caught up in a fit of giggles behind her.

"I'm not scared," mumbled Matt, his face beetroot red, "I just think a guy shouldn't go in these kind of places, that's all."

"You're scared."

Matt only pulled a sour face in response, then marched resolutely into the ladies' toilet as the other three males looked on in admiration.

"Man, he's got guts," Ken said respectfully, "I don't think I've got the balls for what he just did."

"Me neither," Jake added. Isaac nodded fervently in agreement beside him.

"How does he do it?" Kyle asked in an awestruck voice. The three guys stood there, lost in their own thoughts when something clicked in their brains simultaneously. It was Jake who asked the question going on in their minds first. "How does he know there's no one inside there?"

As if on cue, a loud, shrill scream emanated from the ladies' toilet, followed by the voice of a flustered teenage male profusely apologizing for the misunderstanding. The scream began to grow louder and louder, then the sharp sound of a slap resounded from within the toilet, then silence. Then a young fashionably-dressed woman walked out huffily. A moment later, Matt walked out, rubbing the left side of his cheek where the woman had obviously slapped him hard, mistaking him for a pervert. He came to a stop beside the other guys, still massaging his sore cheek and wearing an indignant expression on his face.

"It was occupied," he remarked in a forced conversational tone, clearly trying to pretend that the previous incident had not occurred. On their part, Jake, Ken, Kyle and Isaac in turn made agreeing noises, trying to act as nonchalant as Matt. The two girls, meanwhile, were still giggling at Matt's expense. After a while, Rachel let out a last guffaw, and then strolled over to Matt.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked Matt kindly. While she was still clearly amused by the whole thing, she checked his bruised cheek gently, making soothing noises as she did so, trying sincerely to make up for her behaviour before. On the other hand, Matt's face was growing red again.

"Yeah it's fine," he muttered quickly. Rachel smiled affectionately at him, then punched his shoulder playfully. "You gotta admit though, it was funny."

"Gee thanks. As long as you're happy, what's a bruised cheek?" Matt retorted sarcastically.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Look, me and Cassie will go inside this time, alright? See if the coast is clear and all." With that, the two girls walked away from the five guys into the public washroom. After a while, Cassie stuck her head out from the doorway and flashed them the thumbs-up sign.

Casting furtive looks about them, the five guys walked one by one into the ladies' toilet, Jake leading the pack. Once Kyle, the last person in, had entered the girls closed the door shut and locked it for good measure. The washroom wasn't very big, having space for only three cubicles and two washbasins.

"Kinda cramped," remarked Kyle, scratching his nose absent-mindedly. "So where's this warp portal thingy?"

"It'd be this," replied Isaac as he led them to the last cubicle, the one furthest from the entrance. Pushing the door open, he revealed a swirling vortex of black, flecked with golden streaks. It looked like a miniature black hole. "Time to take a journey into the unknown, boys and girls."

Ken jostled his way to the front. He stood facing the portal quietly, taking a deep breath. Without turning back, his mind set, he took a step into the portal and was suddenly sucked in by the portal, vanishing. Cassie looked questioningly at Jake, who shrugged then followed Ken into the black void. One by one, the other four teenagers stepped into the warp portal until only Isaac was left standing alone in the public toilet, lost in thought when a knock on the door shook him to his senses. It was Van.

Opening the door, Isaac let his old friend in, then closed and locked it again. "They've gone through the portal?" asked Van.

"Yeah. How are things on your side?"

"Brian's on the other side waiting for them. He'll bring them to my dad."

"Then let's not keep the Commander waiting any longer," replied Isaac as he walked into the portal, followed closely behind by Van. As they sped through the portal, a single thought occupied Isaac's mind.

_'I hope you all are ready for this, because it's started again, and now there's no turning back.'

* * *

_

A/N: Finally finally finally it's done. School started for me so I haven't had time. I'll try to make up for it with the other chapters.


	5. Chapter 5: Answers

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 5: Answers

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

Brian Fanell stood patiently in the main lobby of Mithril HQ, his hands in his pockets. He was waiting for the arrival of eight people. He looked at his watch. The warp portal was due to materialize in about five minutes. His stomach suddenly rumbled weakly, and he realized that he hadn't had lunch yet. All around him, people dressed just like him were heading off in different directions. Some of them paused to wave a greeting at their commander's second son. He waved in return while strolling over to a nearby vending machine for a snack. As he slotted in the last coin, a pleasant, female automatic voice chimed over the loudspeakers. **"Warp portal manifesting in ten seconds. Please move away from the warp area."**

Brian retrieved his chocolate bar from the vending machine and stood beside it eating his bar as a warp portal suddenly manifested over the huge Mithril logo in the middle of the lobby. Still chewing his chocolate, he watched as a chorus of petrified yells echoed from within the portal. As he looked on, six teenagers fell out from the portal one after another onto the marble floor, ending up in a painful mass of tangled limbs. He finished up his snack and stuffed the crumpled wrapper in his pocket while walking towards the six teenagers. Moments later, his elder brother Van and Isaac Matthews dropped down from the portal, landing easily beside the groaning teenagers who were now beginning to pick themselves up.

"I wish we could do that," Ken remarked of Van's and Isaac's smooth and painless landing. He was about to say something else when he saw a young man about the same age as Isaac and the tall stranger they had met previously walking briskly towards their small group. He resembled the tall stranger, so Ken surmised that the two were probably related. What he didn't expect was the words that came from this new addition.

"You'll get the hang of it sooner or later, little brother."

"Say what?"

The new stranger looked accusingly at the two other Mithril agents, who just shrugged sheepishly.

"Sorry, bro. I guess I forgot," the tall stranger apologized. Isaac nodded in agreement, happy to put the blame on Van.

The new stranger went to Ken and stuck a helping hand out at him. He gratefully accepted it and pulled himself up. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Ken."

"You know my name?"

"Of course I know your name. Why wouldn't I know my younger brother's name? Look, I know it's a bit confusing right now, so why don't you and your friends come with us? We'll bring you to see Dad, he's waiting in his office with Mom."

Ken's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "No way…Dad told me and Lisa and Sam and Ally you two were…" he stuttered incoherently. In his shock, he almost fell on his butt again when the tall stranger caught him by the arm. This time his face did not have the cold, detached expression that it had when they had just met. It was now replaced by the same warm friendly face that the other stranger was wearing. Ken shook his head hard, as if trying to clear the confusion in his head. His friends meanwhile were just sitting there observing the whole conversation bewilderedly.

"Are you Van or Brian?" he asked the stranger supporting him while getting back up on his feet.

"I'm Van," answered the tall stranger. Pointing to the new stranger he remarked, "And that's Brian."

"Wait, wait, what about the rest? Lisa, Sam and Ally?"

"They're fine too Ken. Like Brian said, Dad has all the answers you and your friends need. C'mon, we'll tell you everything over lunch."

His hand on Ken's shoulder, Van Fanell led his younger brother down the hallway to their father's office while the others followed silently behind them.

* * *

Ken walked quietly with his friends as they followed Van and Brian who were walking in front of them down the corridor. Both were deep in conversation with Isaac. Ken tried to focus all five of his senses, heightened as a result of the awakening of his lightning powers, in order to be able to eavesdrop on their conversation. He failed. His friends, on the other hand, were still staring him, each with a million different questions. Ken noticed this, but chose to ignore it. He himself had a million questions of his own.

"Are you guys gonna tell me what's on your minds or are you all just gonna keep quiet?" he abruptly burst out. Taken aback, the other five teenagers hesitated. Jake was the first to ask.

"Why did Brian call you 'little brother'?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got time. It's a long corridor."

"A few years back, when I was 15, my parents told me, Lisa and Sam about Van and Brian, our two brothers. My youngest sister Ally was only five at the time, so they didn't tell her about them. Ok so far?"

"Yeah."

"Before that, the four of us thought that I was the eldest child, followed by Lisa, then Sam and finally Ally. But Van and Brian were born before me. Van was three years older than me and Brian a year younger than him. The unfortunate thing was that both were miscarried babies. I've always beieved it to be the truth, but now, I don't know what to believe anymore. If they are really who they say they are, then they weren't miscarried babies and my parents lied to me and my siblings for some reason. Man, I really don't know what's going on anymore. If any of you told me yesterday that I would get lightning powers today I would've thought you were off your rocker. Now that it's happened, though, I just…I don't know, guys. I don't know what to believe, and I really don't know what to do."

"So what do you feel about the Van and Brian that we're following right now?"

"It's weird, but somehow they both feel very familiar to me even though I've never seen them before. It's like they're very old friends who I haven't seen in a long time. I trust them, guys. I don't know why, but I trust them."

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (Commander's Office)

Commander Karl Fanell, overall chief of the peacekeeping taskforce Mithril, sat at his desk while taking a sip of his coffee. His computer screen displayed numerous reports from his various divisions regarding the renewed presence of the Chaos Legion. Nearby, his wife Jessica, the head of Mithril's medical division, sat on a black leather couch reviewing her own reports from her division when they both heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Captain Van Fanell, and Lieutenants Brian Fanell and Isaac Matthews, sir, bringing the Seven Seals to see you," answered Van's voice from outside the door. Karl pushed a button under his desk, unlocking the heavy-security door to his office for the group outside to enter. His wife, meanwhile, began to tidy up her area, keeping all her documents in a metal briefcase lying at her feet while getting ready to greet the Seals.

Outside, the group heard the distinct sound of a heavy, secure door bolt unlocking, then the whooshing of a small gust of air as the door swung open slightly. Van glanced questioningly at Ken, who took a dep breath, then nodded. Smiling, Van then pushed open the hug metal door and led his group into a huge, beautifully-decorated room. The room, because the teenagers could not think of it as an office, was bathed in soft light by exquisite chandeliers. A huge, intricately-designed carpet was spread out over the carpeted floor. Rows of bookshelves, all fully stacked, stood at the left side of the room. Nearby were three comfy leather armchairs. There were more things in the room for the teenagers to gape at, such as the vintage collection of medieval and Japanese swords hanging on the wall. Ken, however, had eyes only for the man sitting behind the desk in front of him and the woman standing beside the man, tears in her eyes. They were his parents.

As he stood there dumbstruck, his friends and brothers watching, Karl and Jessica Fanell rushed to their son and hugged him tightly. They didn't have to wait long before Ken hugged them back, tears streaming down his own face.

After that tearful reunion, Karl led the rest to the building's cafeteria where he promised to tell the six teenagers all that he knew about the prophecy of the Seven Seals over lunch. They were soon joined by Ken's younger siblings who were thrilled at being reunited with their older brother. As the group settled down to eat, Karl Fanell began his story.

"All right, who's going to start the questions first?" he asked, looking around at the six teenagers.

"What's Mithril, Uncle Karl?" asked Jake curiously.

"Mithril was founded by my father, Ken's grandfather as a kind of inter-dimensional peacekeeping task force. We're basically something like an inter-dimensional police force, one that is however totally neutral in stance. I took over when I was about Van's age and I've been in charge ever since then. What do I mean by inter-dimensional? The answer to that lies in the fact that there are many parallel worlds. I assume you're all familiar with the concept?"

On seeing the nods of assent, he continued. "Our main enemies are basically the Chaos Legion who, being typical anagonists, want to take over the world. And the universe. And the alternate universes that we monitor in addition to this one. They aim to achieve this basically by creating chaos. Remove all sense of order and the people will eventually turn on themselves, giving them less work to do. When the dust has settled and there's no one left to oppose them, they plan to come out of the shadows and take over easily. Whatever opposition is left should be easily taken swept away by them.

"But Mithril can stand up to them, right Uncle Karl?" asked Kyle.

"It's not that simple. Think about it. On this world alone there are six billion people. If every single one of them went insane and turned on each other as a result of the chaos brought about by the Legion, all the police and military forces of the countries could not control the chaos, even if we were there to help. Furthermore, the powers of the Legion agents, such as those Warlords you met, are strengthened by the life-force of people."

"Life-force?"

"The living energy inside humans, son. All humans have life-force as long as they are alive. The amount that they have, though, differs from person to person. It's dependent on the health and personality of every individual. The Legion consumes the life-force of any person who dies in a situation of chaos, meaning that the person did not die a peaceful death. The energy of that person's life-force is corrupted and makes its way to the Legion who then use it to make themselves stronger.

"So where do we come in, Mr Fanell?" Cassie asked.

"Call me Uncle Karl. The six of you and Isaac here have been prophesied to be the Seven Seals, the seven most powerful mortals of your time. You are the ones who have the power to restore balance to all the universes. See, Mithril's job is not to be the universal police force. Our job is simply to maintain the balance between good and evil, light and dark, chaos and order. Too much chaos is obviously bad, but too much order can be bad too because you can end up with something where freedom and rights of people are trampled on.just so that the world is a peaceful one. Where possible though, we try to tip the scales slightly more towards the "good" side. It's very complicated; sometimes I have problems myself deciding what's good and what's not."

Van picked up from where his father left off. "Even though Mithril is a relatively young organistion, we've progressed a lot since Grandfather's time. Mithril has bases in many parallel universes; all staffed with capable agents who maintain cover identities. Also, in each universe, outposts are located on various planets, so we have quite a number of alien life-forms working for us. Our agents are classified according to normal human/alien agents and superpowered ones; that is to say that they have powers of some sort. However, none of them can stand up to any of you, even as you guys are right now. If you trained hard, you'd completely surpass them.

"We don't have a choice in the matter, do we?"

"Actually, you do," answered Brian. "We're not assholes; we won't force you to join if you don't want to. But because of your powers, the Legion will definitely be after you whether you like it or not and they have no qualms about going through anybody just to get to you."

"Speaking for myself, I don't regret joining up," Isaac added. "Mithril prepared me for the threat of the Chaos Legion and equipped me with the skills and knowledge with which I could deal with the Legion. And we really are doing some good here. Besides, the pay's great."

"I will give you all a few days to think about it," Karl said. "No pressure involved, no more sales pitches. You have the freedom to decide. We will respect your wishes once you have made your decision. However, I advise you to think hard about what has just happened. Only yesterday, the Legion sent 50 cursed zombies after the six of you. This morning, they sent three times that number and also three Warlords. The Chaos Legion is out for you for two reasons. One, you are a threat to them, especially now that all of you have awakened your powers. Two, your powers will strengthen them exponentially once they kill you and absorb your life-forces and make no mistake, they WILL try to kill you."

"Oh yeah, no pressure there," muttered Ken darkly.

"No pressure at all, Ken," answered his father cheerfully. "Now, what say we finish our lunch?"

* * *

A/N: Finally it's done. I can't believe how long this took. Exams are coming up and I haven't had time. 


	6. Chapter 6: Seals & Shields

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 7: Seals & Shields

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

"So you're not coming back with us, Ken?" asked Jake as he and his friends got ready to enter the warp portal that would take them back to Earth. The six teenagers had just finished lunch with Ken's family and were now headed back home to think about what they had just been told by Karl Fanell.

"Nah, I'm spending the weekend here with my family. This is the organization that my family built, after all, and I wanna know more about it. Besides my parents want me and my siblings to get to know Van and Brian better since they're our older brothers after all. I'll see you guys on Monday at school, alright?"

"Sure thing, man," replied Jake with a wave as he stepped into the warp portal, grimacing at the thought of another unpleasant and painful landing awaiting him. The other four teens followed suit reluctantly, taking turns to wave goodbye at the Fanell family and Isaac before entering the portal themselves. When the portal had closed, he turned to his family. "What now?"

Universe ????

The meeting place was a barren wasteland. The trees had died long ago leaving only shrivelled stumps and whatever grass was there was brown and dry. The harsh wind churned up sand from the ground as it raged on mercilessly. At this place, only darkness ruled. A sole small, distant star that was already obscured by the black clouds provided a semblance of light.

Out of the shadows, black tendrils began to slither on the ground towards on open clearing, converging then winding up in the air to form a human-like figure. A flash of light, then there was an old man draped in shapeless black clothing, a hood over his head. Only his face could be seen clearly, but it was enough to make one turn away. His face was heavily scarred and he had sharp piercing eyes devoid of emotion. He looked around him with a self-satisfied expression on his face. Only a year ago, this place had been home to a race of aliens now dead. The old Warlock had followed his master's orders faithfully and had razed the land, bringing about fire and wind and rain and snow. With his power, he had unleashed earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and more. He had enjoyed hearing the cries of help of those who had died, savouring their anguish from within the shadows. He had felt that rush of energy that came about everytime he killed without mercy, that feeling of absorbing his victims' life-force and the power it brought him. **_Those were good memories._**

But now he had work to do. This world was of no use anymore to his master anyway. It would eventually crumble, drifting through space, a sad and pathetic reminder of what it had once been. The old man did not care. He was more focused on the news that he had received. The Seven Seals, the mortals who could truly stand up to his master had been found. They were based in Universe 1566, undergoing training from their Mithril allies. The name caused him no end of irritation. Mithril had been a thorn in his side for many generations now ever since James Fanell had founded it and focused his efforts on stopping the Chaos Legion. The old Warlock himself had a personal vendetta against James' heir Karl Fanell.

The old man smiled inwardly, relishing the prospect of a new challenge. He would enjoy defeating the Seals, slowly torturing and killing them one by one and then continuing with Karl Fanell and his family. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost did not catch the pool of dark slimy acid bubbling up from the ground near him.

"You're late, Razorpoint," a seductive feminine voice echoed irritatedly from the pool of acid. "Our father is waiting for you. His dialogue with his children cannot start without you, you senile codger."

"How many times must I tell you, we are not the Master's children, we are his servants!" the old man snapped back. "You would do well to remember that and accord him with the respect he deserves."

The voice only laughed out loud in reply. "How ironic then," it purred, "that you are showing him the very same disrespect at this moment. The voice then became more serious, more business-like. "He is waiting for you. You know he does not like to wait."

The dark acid seeped back into the ground, bubbling as it did so and leaving the old man looking at the spot where it had been. He smirked and stood there as his black hood moved to cover his head. The old man turned into shadow again, breaking up into numerous tendrils which dropped to the ground and slithered away into the darkness.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ the next day

Ken stood at one end of a training mat in the dojo of the Mithril HQ, facing Van who was standing opposite him, his own body a mirror pose of Ken's fighting stance. Their father stood outside the mat at its halfway mark, acting as an unofficial referee for this practice match. On seeing that both were ready, he signalled the start of the match. "Begin!" he barked.

Ken and Van immediately sprinted towards each other. Ken made the first move with a jumping back kick that threatened to rearrange Van's face. Van dodged and leapt towards the left into a roll. Getting up, he saw that Ken had jumped up and was now aiming a heel drop with his right foot right at him. He blocked Ken with his left arm and then grabbed his younger brother by the ankle and moved to swing him in a circle. His plan was foiled by Ken suddenly twisting his body to his left, the momentum from that overturning him causing both to land on the floor. However, the match wasn't over and both leapt away to face each other again, each relishing the challenge of going up against a formidable opponent. They rushed at each other again, throwing and blocking punches.

It was Van who made the first move this time as he dished out a series of kicks at Ken's left side. Sensing a win, Van faked a front kick then dropeed down in an attempt to sweep Ken off his feet. Ken's reflexes were luckily quick enough for him to lift up the targeted front leg and move a step backward, making all of Van's effort for nought. However, he didn't count on Van recovering so quickly and aiming a kick at his gut, an attack he dodged just barely.

As they sparred, the rest of the Fanell family was standing near the mat observing the fight. Jessica was scribbling furiously on a notepad taking down notes about the fight from Brian who was observing the battle. The younger children had taken sides and were cheering on their elder brothers. As the match went on, Brian noticed Isaac running towards him, an urgent expression on his face. The two conversed quietly and quickly, Brian's face becoming more worried by the second, catching the eyes of his family. Brian beckoned his father and brothers over. "Dad! We got problems!"

Ken and Van faced each other and bowed, then joined their parents and their brother who were discussing with Isaac. "What's up Isaac?" asked Van as he accepted a towel from his sister and began wiping off the sweat.

"The Legion's made a move buddy. The techs just notified me of a Zombie appearance in New York. 50 of them; one Warlock in charge. We also have 65 Zombies attacking Tokyo, although there doesn't seem to be a Warlock there. Lastly there's a small bunch of them, numbering 20, in Kuala Lumpur. There's no Warlock there either."

"What's their objective, Isaac?" asked Karl while going through the print-outs Isaac had given him.

"Unknown, sir, as far as we can tell. They seem to just be attacking people and buildings randomly. The Warlock in the New York scenario is hiding himself too. We're trying to get a fix on his location."

"Hmm, they're really starting to come out of the woodwork now. What about casualties? Do we have damage control down there already?"

"No deaths, fortunately, but reports of many severely injured are coming in fast, sir. Mithril agents within the police forces of the three states are already on location carrying out evacuation. Our civilian agents are also there helping out with the evacuation," answered Isaac.

"Isaac, you go to New York. Set up a spirit shield and take out all hostiles ASAP. Van, you've got Tokyo; Brian will go with you. Eliminate all hostiles, but remember to not be seen by other people since the both of you don't have the luxury of a spirit shield. Ken."

"Yeah, Dad?"

"I'm sorry to rush you, but have you given the possibility of joining Mithril as an agent a lot of thought? Mithril has a lot of agents, but to tell you the truth, we have few metahuman agents and the ones in this universe right now are your mother, your elder brothers, Isaac and I. Your help would be much appreciated for the KL scenario right now although it's still your decision."

"I don't know yet, Dad but…I'll do it, for now. I'll get out there and see what I can do to help. Maybe if I go out there, I'll know if I really want to be a part of this." He replied resolutely.

"Thank you, son," Karl smiled at his third-born then his face turned serious as he accepted a communications earpiece from Isaac and put it on, switching it on at the same time. "Tech division? This is Commander Fanell speaking. Open up warp portals to all three hotspots right now and assign a warp technician each to maintain the portals for the duration of the battles. Contact our agents there to pull out; we're sending in the Metas. Get all that done within two minutes." Having finished giving out his orders, he turned to face the rest of the group. "Move out."

"Yes Sir!" saluted Van, Brian and Isaac who then sprinted off, leaving behind a confused Ken who was stuck on deciding on whether he needed to salute his father and consequently did so awkwardly. Red-faced, he then dashed off after the other three, muttering something about getting used to all the craziness that had happened to him. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fanell family headed to Karl's office where they would be able to observe all that was going on.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (Tech Division)

Ken had caught up with the other three Metas as they ran towards Mithril's Tech Division located on the bottom floor of the base. As they ran into the huge room, they were greeted by four technicians, each of whom handed to them four communication earpieces and who then led the four in to the portal area. The whole room was abuzz with noise as technicians dressed in blue and white ran around getting ready for the battles. The portal area itself was divided into numerous portal zones, where three black warp portals, each tinged with specks of gold, had already been set up. Above each portal zone an LCD screen displayed the destination of each portal's pathway while technicians sat at adjacent computer consoles checking the status of each portal. As Ken stood dumbstruck with his mouth wide open, a big, muscly, middle-aged man walked towards Ken's group, followed closely behind by a lanky teenager about Ken's age, both wearing the same outfits as the other technicians.

"Ken this is Jack Blake, Tech Div's head guy and his number two Charlie Jackson. They're the ones who help to keep this place running and also come up with ideas for our vehicles, weaponry, communications and more importantly, the warp portals." Van introduced Ken to the two.

"So you're the Commander's third son and one of the Seals too, eh?" Jack remarked gruffly by means of a greeting. He looked Ken up and down, apparently sizing him up. Then his gruff, unfriendly face broke into a smile. "Yeah, I can sense something about you alright. You're strong. This here's Charlie by the way."

The young technician just stood there and nodded in reply, to the frustration of his superior who remarked to Ken in a secretive voice, "You're going have to forgive him. He's shy." His voice became loud again as he took Ken's earpiece and explained to Ken how to use it. "Right, tap the small knob on the earpiece."

As Ken did so, he was surprised to see a small microphone unfold itself automatically from the small knob and extend itself until its tip was beside his mouth. Jack then reached out and bent a moveable part so that the mouthpiece was positioned in front. "Tap once to unfold the microphone and then twist this part here to speak in the mouthpiece," he explained. "Once the mike unfolds there will be two tiny buttons, one green and one red. Press and hold the green button to speak. Pressing the red button will cause the mike to fold itself up and go back to its original position. You got that?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"This commlink is designed to work in all kinds of environments since we have agents in other universes working under different conditions so these babies are tough. They've got a very large range; the three of you will be able to communicate clearly even though you guys will be in different far-away locations. More importantly, we've just managed to fix on miniature cameras on the earpieces and they'll also now work within a Spirit Shield…now that was quite a tough one. Wait," he said uncertainly seeing the clueless face on Ken, "you DO know what a Spirit Shield is right? Since you're one of the Seals and all…"

"Isaac can help him with that, Jack," Van interrupted. "More importantly, do we have clearance to go already?" In reply Jack looked up at the three LCD screen hanging over the warp portals, each still dispalying the pre-determined locations. A few seconds later there appeared a green blip on each screen, followed by the word "CLEARED". "There's your answer, kid."

"Let's go then," Van said grimly as he headed to the portal heading to Tokyo, Brian close behind. Isaac marched off to the portal headed to New York and was about to step into it before being pulled back by Ken who had a slightly panicked look on his face. "Uh, what the hell is a Spirit Shield?" he asked.

"Remember yesterday we were fighting those Cursed Zombies? I set up my own personal Spirit Shield. It's a power unique to us Seals where we're able to seal off an area of space and replicate it in a temporary alternate dimension. By doing so, we can seal in all intended combatants and prevent innocents from being involved."

"We're that powerful?"

"Damn straight. There's a catch though. A Spirit Shield can either be taken down by its creator or it can be done so involuntarily. This means that the Seal who created that Shield has been incapacitated and so he can't maintain it, causing the Shield to implode. Once that happens all within the shield will be moved back to the original area of space. That's not good if all the hostiles haven't been eliminated. There's more to it but these are the basics. I'll explain the rest when we have time."

"Ok, any tips then? Like how to set up a Shield?"

"Sorry, I don't have any tips. I'm serious," Isaac replied seeing the skeptical look on Ken's face, "It's something you'll find out on your own. Ridiculous as it seems, the knowledge will just…come to you."

"You do know that I don't believe that, right?"

"Yeah I know. But like I said, you'll find out for yourself. Now let's go. We got work to do, kid." With that Isaac turned and ran through his assigned portal, disappearing in a flash of yellow light. Ken stood there, his brain whirring in his head, trying to make sense of his current situation. Then he looked up.

"Y'know," he remarked to the ceiling, "if it's alright with you I'd like to wake up now, 'cos this dream is seriously a weird one." He waited a while before speaking again to no one in particular. "No answer, huh? So that means all this crazy crap is real. Brilliant. Just what I needed," he muttered as he ran towards the portal headed to Kuala Lumpur and dived into it.

* * *

Universe 1566: New York

Mass panic was evident everywhere when Isaac dropped down from the warp portal which had materialized in the middle of an abandoned alleyway. As he remained crouched from his landing position, he extended his senses partially around him, checking to see if the coast was clear for him to make his next move. Satisfied that it was, he bounded up the block of apartments in front of him, jumping off stair railings and ledges until he had reached the edge of the roof. Sensing a disturbance, he ran to the opposite edge to get a better view of the situation.

A thick funnel of smoke was making its way up from a burning office building about a kilometer away from him. The flame was growing steadily and Isaac, focusing his eyesight, could make out a few workers still trapped inside screaming for help while police choppers circled around assessing the situation. The fire engines had already arrived to put out the fire but their efforts were seemingly in vain. To his right, there was suddenly a series of small explosions as a number of vehicles which had crashed into each other burst into flames. A small crowd which had begun to gather immediately scattered on seeing inhuman black figures burst out from the wreckage of the and advance threateningly toward them. Isaac swore involuntarily. _Cursed Zombies. Looks like that Warlord bastard didn't waste any time._

Isaac extended his senses fully, tryimg to estimate the locations of the Zombies. Once done, he leaped to a building three blocks away, closing his eyes and setting up his purple Spirit Shield, drawing in every single one of the Zombies within it. When he opened his eyes, an area in the shape of a star had been sealed off and the Zombies on the ground were simply standing around, wondering in their own mindless way where their prey had gone. One by one they became aware of Isaac's presence and all looked up at the tall, imposing figure standing four storeys above them. It wasn't long before the outraged disembodied voice of a Warlock echoed out.

**"How dare you Seal. Those worthless humans were food for the Master and you denied him that. He will not suffer this lightly."**

"I don't really give a shit about what your Master, Warlock. What I do care about are the inoocents who are in danger because of you people." replied Isaac grimly.

**"A typical cliched hero response, arrogant and foolish at the same time. Young one, do you really think you can stop us? Do you really think you can win?"**

"Why don't we find out?" Isaac shot back as he powered up in a glow of purple light. Without hesitating he leaped off the edge of the roof as Cursed Zombies leapt up on cue from the ground below. A simple incantation, and instantly Isaac's spell cards streamed out from beneath his white trenchcoat and flew around him in a protective sphere. The cards continued to fly circles around Isaac as he leaped from building to building, trying to sense the presence of the Warlock. Each time a zombie got too close to the protective spell, a card would peel off from the circle and target the Zombie, changing once more into a bird shape and tearing the Zombie to shred. This didn't stop the zombies from trying to rip his guts out, so he leaped high above them and for a split second, hung in the sky.

As he sped downwards headfirst in the sky, looking down at the onrushing zombies, Isaac reached inside his trenchcoat then flicked out a great number of spell cards at the zombies. As expected the spell cards again transformed into their bird-shapes and zoomed forward, overtaking their master and attacking the zombies head on. Isaac simply relaxed as he freefell among the occupied zombies, landed on a rooftop and immediately leaping off to another rooftop in search of the Warlock.

* * *

Universe 1566: Tokyo

The Zombies were busy causing damage on the streets of Tokyo when Van and Brian jumped out from the warp portal that had materialized in the middle of the Tokyo business district. Fortunately, the civilians had been evacuated by the police, helped by undercover Mithril agents. However, there were still a few stragglers who had been badly injured and could not escape while others were being cornered by packs of Zombies. Van and Brian had to be careful if they did not want to reveal to people just exactly who they were.

"Let's settle this quickly. I'll take the northern area, you take the south. Watch your ass, you hear?" Van barked an order to his younger brother as he ran to the chaos in the distance. As he did so he ran a hand against a nearby wall, creating another mysterious circle etching on that wall and pulling out a broadsword. Without waiting for Brian's answer he pulled out the sword fully then ran towards the disturbance.

Brian watched his brother disappear into the smoke, then turned away and sprinted off in the opposite direction, heading for the rooftops like Isaac to avoid being seen by any civilians. As he ran his right hand glowed red slowly, then spontaneously burst into flames.

* * *

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Traffic had been brought to a standstill. The four undercover Mithril agents assigned to that area had aided the local police in evacuating the civilians and were now secretly helping them in their own way against the rampaging Cursed Zombies. In a back alley, two of them were engaging a single Zombie in unarmed combat. The other two, using weapons from HQ, had cornered a small group of zombies in an abandoned construction site and had opened fire on them.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working out for the agents. The zombies under fire were obviously hit by the gunfire, but didn't seem to be badly affected by it. The two Mithril agents fighting the lone Zombie were tiring out fast too while their opponent didn't seem tired in the least. Things were looking bad for the four.

It was thus a surprise for the two agents firing on the Zombies when a warp portal suddenly appeared above their opponents and out dropped a terrified yelling teenager who was obviously not used to dropping out of the sky. The boy landed on the five Zombies in a painful heap. A small cloud of dust and ash rose, covering the mess, from which rose a string of angry curses. The teenager then stumbled out of the mess still muttering, a scowl on his face, when without warning the Zombies he had landed on burst out of the smoke attacking him from behind.

Ken rolled his eyes as he kept walking towards the Mithril agents. "Give me a break," he muttered as he suddenly turned and obliterated two of the five Zombies with a roundhouse kick charged up with electricity. The three remaining Zombies, caught by surprise, immediately retreated a few steps then hung back, cautious and waiting for Ken's next move. They didn't have to wait long. In a flash, Ken had somehow destroyed all three of them, each with a charged hand thrust through their bodies. Neither the Mithril agents nor the Zombies saw it coming. Ken himself seemed bewildered by his achievement. "I gotta remember how I did that."

"Thanks for the save, kid. You a metahuman?" asked one of the agents while putting his gun back in its concealed holster.

"That's what everybody's saying. They say I'm one of the Seven Seals," replied Ken sheepishly.

"So…I guess you're here to help us out?" asked the agent again. Seeing Ken nod, he continued. "Two of the other agents ran off in the other direction, who knows what they're up against…better be careful kid. Even if you're a Seal these things are dangerous."

Ken smiled. "I can handle it."

"And I seriously hope you can. Well enough chit-chat. We know when we're being outclassed so we'll go help out with the civilian evacuation while you take care of the Zombies. Good luck sonny," the agent yelled in parting as he ran off in an opposite direction with his partner.

It was only after the two agents had disappeared that Ken realized something. "Ah crap, I should've asked them where the other Zombies are."

* * *

Universe 1566: Tokyo

"Yaarrrgh!" yelled Van as he leaped downwards to a Zombie, sword in hand. There was a quick flash of light, then the Zombie suddenly split in two and Van wasted no time in rushing the remainder of the Zombies attacking him, slashing and thrusting through the mob. A couple hundred meters from him, Brian was blocking a barrage of punches from Zombies all around him. He jumped, dodging their attacks and suddenly flame burst from his right hand and engulfed the Zombies, catching them unawares. Upon landing he shaped the flames into a huge armoured glove around his right hand and sprinted towards his elder brother.

A Zombie fighting with Van was caught unawares as Brian rushed in from its right and slammed a flaming fist into it, sending it flying and causing it to disintegrate in midair. Van nodded his thanks to his brother then both turned to face the two remaining Zombies left. The Zombies, realizing their disadvantage, fused into a single Cursed Demon. The two brothers shifted into defensive stances as they slowly circled the Demon. Fighting a Demon was always a tricky business. The creatures were unpredictable opponents; one could never know what attacks it would use, unlike a Zombie which would always try to rip apart its prey.

This one was no different. The Zombie let out a terrifying screech and without warning, its arms suddenly sprouted blades all over and extended themselves towards Van and Brian who were standing in front of it and to its right respectively. Brian reshaped the flame around his right arm into a clawed glove and used it to block an arm as Van raised his own sword to block. The Demon snapped back its arms and swung them around like whips. As the arms came down again, the two were ready and both dodged the arms. Van thrust his sword hard through the Demon's chest as Brian jumped and lopped off its head.

As the Demon disintegrated slowly, Van flicked its blood off his blade and tapped on his earpiece. "Jack, it's me, Van. Any more Zombies left in this area?"

"Hang on, we're completing the scan…done. Confirmed. All hostiles eliminated."

"What about the others?" asked Van.

"Hey, Charlie, how're Isaac and the rookie kid doing?" Jack yelled into the background. Van waited as Jack talked with his second man in the background. "Isaac's finishing up. One more left. The kid's got 13 left, though," the reply finally came through.

* * *

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

The 13 Zombies were circling Ken warily as he stood in a fighting stance in a narrow alley. He was alone now, having shooed away any other civilians. A voice suddenly came through the earpiece he was wearing. "Ken this is Charlie Jackson, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Charlie."

"How're you holding up so far?"

"I'm doing okay for the time being," Ken replied conversationally as he dodged a simultaneous attack from two Zombies on his right. "But I need to bring this fight to another place. It's too crowded in this alley and I'm way too near civilians, I don't think they're that far away. Plus I still don't have any idea how I'm supposed to set up a spirit shield."

"I gotcha. Hang on a sec…alright I've got something for you. There's a damaged factory to your west, about two kilometres away. It's a pretty big place, all the workers have fled. If you can lure the freaks there, I can direct our agents to keep civilians away from that area."

"Works for me."

"Keep the link open so I can contact you easily."

"No problem," Ken replied as he concentrated his lightning powers into a ball in his right hand. The Zombies stiffened, ready. Ken feinted to the left then abruptly turned around and slammed the ball of electricity at the Zombie who had decided to attack him from behind. Without wasting a second further, he immediately leaped up stairway railings and headed for the factory, the remaining 12 Zombies close behind him.

* * *

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Ken vaulted up a fence into the abandoned factory that Charlie had directed him to, closely pursued by the ten Zombies now left, with two more having been taken out during the chase. Thoughts were jumbled up in his head. _I can't keep running away forever. I wanted to draw them away from the city so that nobody else would get hurt. I've done that. So it's time to stop running. It's time to face up to everything. _

He stopped running just in front of a warehouse in the factory complex and turned to face the Zombies, fists clenched tightly. Slowly, a blue light enveloped him as he charged up lightning along his arms. His breathing was regular, his face determined. _I can do this._

Suddenly there was a burst of bright blue light and all the Zombies stood warily as the faint, blurry image of a blue dragon suddenly rose up from Ken's body and floated up slowly into the sky. It roared and, with a great sweep of its wings, hurtled back into Ken.

Slowly, Ken looked up. Just like the time when he first awakened his powers, Ken's eyes gleamed blue. He gripped his right wrist with his left hand, with the right palm facing upwards. He closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a sudden spark of light in his right palm which slowly shaped itself into a square about the size of his hand. As Ken concentrated harder, the square began to spin in his palm, faster and faster until it was a blur. As it spun, it grew larger and larger at a rapid speed until it suddenly flew out of its hands and expanded on the ground. A flash of light later, the Zombies and Ken were standing inside a cube-like spirit shield.

Ken opened his eyes, taking in the sight before him. Like the zombies in Isaac's shield, the zombies in his spirit shield were staring around mindlessly, figuring out what to do in their own way. One by one, they focused their attentions on him but were caught off guard by his sudden rush. For Ken, it was time to settle this fight.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7: Blades

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 7: Blades

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Ken ran straight for the Zombies rushing and jumped, charging up his right leg with electricity. The flying kick hit a Zombie dead-on, destroying it. Before the zombies could even react, Ken had suddenly disappeared. Or so they thought. Out of nowhere, a Zombie was pierced with a charged hand thrust by Ken. As it disintegrated, its fellow Zombies looked around wildly for the Seal. _Two down, eight more to go. Let's wrap this up._

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

Back in the Tech Division, the high-ranking personnel crowded around Jack Blake's workstation stared open-mouthed at the happenings. Through the mini-camera on Ken's earpiece that he had activated, they were able to watch the ongoing actions. All of them were simply amazed by what they were seeing.

"My God,"said Van, "he's getting better with each battle."

"Isaac, what do you think?" asked Karl.

"Van's right, he's getting better," replied Isaac, "the most important thing now is that he's learnt how to create a spirit shield. Once a Seal can do so, he or she more or less has access to all the potential powers within. The same thing happened to me. Once I set up my shield, the knowledge of how to better use my powers just came to me. Jack, how fast is he moving right now, compared to when he first awakened his powers?"

"350 km/h, up from 200 km/h."

"My guess, sir, is that that extra 150 km/h is coming from his lightning powers. He's utilizing a bit of the speed of lightning to enhance his own speed. That faint trail of blue behind him attests to that."

On the screen, the remaining eight were getting pounded by Ken, who was now nothing more than a blue blur. In a flash, he was suddenly in the sky above them, mid-somersault. Three of the remaining Zombies fused into a Cursed Demon. As Ken hung in the sky, the Demon opened his mouth so big that the hole was almost as big as the Demon itself. Ken noticed this.

"Urgh, gross," commented Brian off-handedly.

From within the Demon's mouth a dark purple light began to grow as the Demon prepared to fire an energy blast at Ken. Ken didn't seem unfazed in the least. As the Demon fired its blast, Ken pooled lightning around his right arm and slapped away the blast, using his lightning as a protective barrier. In a split second, he had redirected all that energy into a single blade attached to his right wrist. "HAAHH!!"

The Demon didn't stand a chance. With a single downward slash, Ken had split it into two. But he wasn't done yet. As soon as he landed, he leapt at the nearest Zombie, reshaping the lightning blade into a crackling ball of blue energy. There was no way the Zombie could have dodged the ball which Ken slammed into its gut, destroying it.

By now, all the Mithril personnel around Jack's workstation were staring open-mouthed at what they had just seen. Charlie summed up their feelings perfectly.

"Whoa."

* * *

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Ken stood in the open clearing in the factory complex coolly, waiting for the four Zombies to make their move. After the way he had dispatched the previous Zombies he was feeling supremely confident, to the point of being just a teensy bit cocky. If he could handle all the Zombies before, 4 would be easy meat.

It was a mistake that would prove to be an almost fatal one. The 4 Zombies combined into 2 Demons and split off in two directions, disappearing from his sight. Caught off guard, Ken was suddenly swept off his feet by a sweeping kick behind him. As he fell to the ground he saw the second Demon leaping down at him, sword in hand. It didn't look as if he would make it.

But he did. Ken reached backwards and grabbed the Demon that had been standing behind him, pulling hard so that the surprised Demon was suddenly between him and his attacker, intending to use the Demon as a shield. The plan worked. The attacking Demon stabbed its comrade with its sword and had it stuck, buying Ken time. Ken didn't waste time either. As soon as his body was on the ground he rolled away. The stabbed Demon was on the ground letting out some horrible shrieking while the other unsuccessfully tried to pull out its sword.

Ken moved back a few steps then concentrated hard, harder than he had ever done before. The sky within the spirit shield gradually began to get darker. There was a flash of lightning and thunder rumbled in the overcast clouds overhead. The Demons looked up from their respective struggles. Ken was focusing lightning energy into a ball in his right hand while the thunder became louder and the lightning struck the ground a few times. At times lightning bolts from the heavens struck the energy ball in his hand, but he didn't seem to be hurt in the least.

"Lightning…Smash."

Ken suddenly grabbed the ball of lightning and slammed it hard into the ground. The force of the action caused the ball to disperse violently back into the atmosphere. The sky became even darker and the thunder died down. Then all at once multiple lightning bolts, much bigger than the previous ones, lanced down from the skies and swept the ground like orbital lasers. Buildings crumbled and trees were fried to a crisp but Ken just stood there unharmed. The Demons, realizing how badly they were outmatched tried to escape but their efforts were in vain as the lightning came crashing down on them, incinerating them in an instant. Ken stood alone. He had won.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

The small group around Jack's workstation whooped in celebration at Ken's victory. The tech personnel just stared as their superiors started an impromptu dance, each still cheering loudly as if their favourite team had just won the championship.

"Alright, alright that's enough, people", Karl said unsuccessfully trying to calm everybody down. He pressed the speaker button. "Ken? Son, are you okay?"

"Dad? Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear."

"Well done, son. Well done."

* * *

Universe ????

The formless shadow that was Razorpoint slithered into a huge underground cavern hollowed out by the mindless minions of his master. Waiting for him were the Master's other servants, his fellow generals. Razorpoint reformed himself and took his place beside his siblings in front of their "father", the Master.

With a lazy wave of his arm, the Master summoned a view screen in front of his followers. It showed footage of the six teenagers battling the Zombies and the most recent footage showed Ken battling the Zombies in Kuala Lumpur before suddenly disappearing, an effect of him creating his spirit shield. "It seems as though Mithril have gotten themselves some new weapons. Remove them."

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (a week later)

"Damn it I'm late for school again!" yelled Ken panickedly as he grabbed his books and ran out his room, his jacket over his shoulder into the kitchen where the rest of his family were having breakfast. He grabbed a handful of cereal from a box and stuffed it into his mouth, then grabbed a few slices of bread before running out the door again.

"Huh. He sure is rushed in the mornings," commented Van as he ate his toast. Beside him, Brian grinned over his cereal.

"You get used to it," his father replied as he sipped his coffee while he read his morning newspaper.

Ken raced down the hallways of the Mithril HQ from the personnel headquarters where he was staying with his family for the time being, narrowly avoiding the personnel clocking in for the day, and headed straight for the tech division. There, Charlie was leaning beside a warp portal console munching on his own breakfast while the black-gold portal glowed serenely.

"Everything set?" yelled Ken from a distance as he ran towards the active portal. Charlie flashed him a thumbs-up sign in reply while taking a swig from a mug of tea.

"Cool. See ya later then," Ken said as he jumped into the portal, waving at Charlie who raised a hand in return.

* * *

Universe 1566

Ken made it to school just in time. As he sat on his chair, catching his breath, part of his mind was going through the events of the past week. In a matter of days, he had gone through a lot of changes. Officially, he was now a junior agent of Mithril, agreeing to his father's request to join Mithril. He had spent quite a few afternoons after school joining his brothers along with Isaac on missions to suppress Legion forces causing trouble in Universe 1566. The other five Seals were still undecided about joining but had promised to help whenever they could. More and more, Ken was beginning to get used to his new life.

He had intensified his training. After the fight in Kuala Lumpur where he had been caught unawares by the Demons he had put in more time into his training and the results were showing. In terms of combat ability, he was improving by leaps and bounds. This was helped by the fact that he now had Van, Isaac and Brian to train and spar with, in addition to his father. In retrospect, he realized that not only was he getting used to his new life, but he was actually looking forward to what the future might bring for him. In the meantime however, he was perfectly fine with the current peaceful situation.

After school, he met up with Matt and Rachel at the park where he had promised to train them in martial arts, starting from three days ago. Cassie and Kyle had made their own arrangements with Jake and so had gone their separate ways after school. Ken had changed into a suitable workout attire and was leading his two friends in a warm-up routine when his mobile phone rang. It was Van.

"Hey little brother," came the voice over the line.

"What's up Van? Is it the Chaos Legion?"

"Nah, nothing like that. Dad just asked me to tell you the whole family's having dinner together tonight. The same place which we went a couple days ago. Better be there. And don't be late, you hear?" Van warned teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah I got it. See ya later bro." As Ken slipped the phone back into his bag, he noticed the curious looks on the faces of his friends. "What is it?"

"So you're used to your new family already?" asked Rachel as she accepted a bottle of water from Matt.

"Seems that way, doesn't it?" Ken replied with a smile.

"What're your brothers like?" asked Matt.

Ken smiled wryly. "Just the kind of people I expected them to be. They take every chance they get to kick my ass and rub it in, but they're also the same people who'd be looking out for me in battle. I'm glad to have them in the family, that's for sure. That's enough chatter for now though. Let's get back to training."

"What? But we're taking a rest, man."

"Dude, we haven't even done the warm-up yet. Come on and get off your ass," Ken replied as he walked back to the training area.

"Slave-driver."

"I heard that."

* * *

Universe 1566

In another part of town, Jake had been sparring against Kyle and Cassie simultaneously at another park for about an hour and was now taking a break of his own. They were just sitting on the grass talking when they suddenly felt an abrupt rush of dark energy. It was something they had experienced before. It was the Chaos Legion.

"Try to sense where it's coming from," Jake urged his friends as he concentrated himself.

"Due west from here," replied Kyle, "that's where it's strongest."

Cassie's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh my God. There's a pre-school there."

"Then we better get going," muttered Jake grimly as he began packing his things hurriedly. Within two minutes, he was already sprinting in the direction of the dark energy, followed closely by the other two.

In the meantime, Ken, Matt and Rachel were sprinting to the business district where they had sensed dark energy. Ken was already reporting the situation to his elder brother through his comms earpiece as he ran.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

"Isaac, I want you to assist Jake and his group. Be prepared to set up a shield. Brian, go to your brother and the others. They might need your help. Van will stay here as backup."

"Yes sir!" both agents saluted to the Commander then ran off to the Tech Division where Jack was waiting for them. Two warp portals had already been set up for them. Both immediately ran toward their designated portals and leaped through them, heading to their respective destinations. There was a call from the Commander. "What's the situation like Jack?"

"We have heavy dark energy readings, sir, but the Legion buggers haven't shown themselves yet. Ken's group is already at the business area and Jake's group is on its way to the pre-school already. Everything's still normal for the time being."

"What about Brian and Isaac?"

"They just exited their warp portals and should reach both groups in a few minutes."

"Keep scanning and remind the agents to stay alert. There's no telling what might happen."

* * *

Universe 1566

Ken and his friends, along with Brian who had just joined them, were running around looking for any signs of the Chaos Legion. They were still able to sense the dark energy hanging over the area but could not locate the Zombies themselves. Ken and Brian were still running around in the crowded area when, from out of nowhere, a woman was suddenly speared through the heart by a sharp black tendril right before their very eyes. As she fell to the ground, bleeding profusely, she could only muster a small, strangled choke. The panicked crowd scattered, people screaming wildly, until only Ken and Brian were left.

"What the…" Ken muttered disbelievingly before he suddenly sensed a flash of movement. He yelled a warning to Brian. "Another one!"

Both leaped clear of the next tendril and looked up to where the attack had come from. The sky grew darker and the two young men stood back to back as Zombie summon markings began appearing one by one on the ground. As the Zombies rose one by one from the markings, a pool of black shadow began to appear on a building wall and slide down it. The Zombies gathered around it respectfully, a fact which was not lost on the two brothers. The shadow quivered a bit, then rose and reshaped itself into the figure of an old man, fully clothed in black.

"You're not a Warlock. You're more powerful than them," said Ken.

**"That is correct, child. And the two of you are Fanells, are you not? The offspring of my enemy, the one I swore to kill with my own hands."**

"What're you doing here?" asked Brian angrily.

**"Why, to cause chaos of course. And if I can kill you too then it'll make my job easier in the future. Not to mention the fact that killing you both would no doubt imbue me with great power. Zombies. Kill the brothers."**

"Not if I have something to say about it!" yelled Matt angrily as he leaped out of nowhere, Rachel behind him, and executed a flying kick at the Zombies. The Zombies dodged skillfully and regrouped, then spread themselves out until the stood around the 4 fighters who were now standing back to back. "What's the plan, guys?" asked Rachel.

"This," replied Ken grimly as he focused lightning into his hand in an instant. "Brian, as soon as the spirit shield is set up, create a diversion for us. You do the same too, Matt. Split up, then regroup on the roof of that building."

The other three nodded in reply, impressed with the way he was taking charge of the situation. As the blue square in Ken's hand began to spin and expand simultaneously, Brian's arm burst into flames and green enegy flowed into Matt's right hand. In an instant the shield was ready. Matt crouched low and slammed his right palm on the ground. The green energy dissipated from his hand in waves and soon the ground within the spirit shield started to rumble violently. A smirk formed on Matt's face. Without warning the ground split in two and sent shockwaves coursing through the earth, causing tremors here and there. The other three leapt up avoiding getting caught in Matt's earthquake. The Zombies weren't as lucky as they were caught up in the earthquake, crushing them. At the same time, Brian made use of the opportunity to fire an attack of his own. "Nadare!"

The flame around his right arm burst into the air and reformed itself into a dragon of flame very different from his brother's blue dragon. The dragon roared and circled its master, waiting for his next move. It didn't have to wait long. "Dan En!"

Brian shot wave after wave of fireballs out of his right hand, now covered by Nadare, at the Zombies. Not all of them hit their target, but it was enough to buy Ken some time to use his Lightning Smash to cover their temporary retreat. Even as the lightning bolts rained down from the sky, Ken was already on his way following his friends, leaving behind the stunned and confused Zombies. In the shadows, a hooded old man smiled. **_Not bad at all._**

* * *

Universe 1566:

The orphanage was already engulfed in flames when Jake, Cassie and Kyle reached it. By this time, the orphanage staff had evacuated all the children and the whole group was running away from the blazing inferno. Fire engine sirens could be heard from the distance, accompanied by police sirens. Jake's group hung back in the distance, observing the situation.

"Looks like everything's under control," observed Kyle.

"Looks that way. Stay alert though. I don't want us to get caught unprepared," Jake replied.

"You got it, fearless leader."

The fire engines finally arrived at their location, followed shortly after by three patrol cars and an ambulance. Strangely however, there was no further action that followed. No firemen got out to put out the fire that was still raging. No policemen came out to stabilize the situation. The hurt civilians gathered around an ambulance that just remained at its spot.

"Why aren't they doing anything? That fire's still blazing and those people over there are hurt bad," Kyle muttered worriedly as he observed the spectacle.

"Does anybody besides me notice that all the windows of the vehicles are tinted black? I don't even know if there're people inside them," said Cassie. "Jake? What do you think…oh no. It can't be. Jake…"

"Yeah. I'm thinking the same thing you are Cass. Those things aren't there to help us. Power up. It looks like we're gonna need to fight," Jake replied tersely, his body tensed up.

As soon as he finished his sentence the doors of all the vehicles exploded outwards with a loud bang and Cursed Zombies swarmed out of them, targeting the shocked civilians.

* * *

Universe 1566:

"Shit!" exclaimed Van loudly as he saw the scene with his own eyes through Jack's workstation. He tapped his earpiece urgently. "Isaac! The Zombies are attacking civilians indiscriminately! How far are you from the location?!"

"One minute too far," the grim reply came back.

"Hurry, man! Charlie, mobilise all agents in that area! Tell them to buy some time for Lieutenant Isaac!"

"Sir, Jake Turner and his friends are on-site! They're engaging the Zombies!"

* * *

Universe 1566:

Kyle moved from a striding run into a full sprint and shoulder-tackled the nearest Zombie, bringing it down with him and followed up with a hard punch to its face. He wasted no time in recovering and moving on to the next one. In front of him, both Jake and Cassie were fighting their own opponents while trying to shoo away the civilians, most of whom were still shocked senseless by the sudden appearance of the Zombies.

"Everyone run!!" yelled Jake at the stunned onlookers as he grappled with a particularly annoying Zombie clawing at him. "And you! Stop doing that! It's freakin' irritating!" he shouted as he lashed out with a fierce kick at the Zombie's stomach, leaving it winded. The Zombie replied in its own way, fiercely punching Jake who had a hard time blocking all of the punches.

"Jake! Duck!" exclaimed Cassie as she threw a dustbin lid like a Frisbee straight at Jake's opponent. He ducked and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the lid. The Zombie, though, was thrown forwards hard by the force of the impact. It got up, only to be greeted by both Jake and Cassie throwing a punch at it.

There was a sudden flash of purple light, and suddenly the combatants found themselves within a purple spirit shield. This was followed by a sudden rush of enchanted bird-like figures swarming the sky and swooping down on the enemies. The civilians had mysteriously vanished. The three Seals moved out of the way quickly to get a breather while the bird summons kept the Zombies occupied. From above, Isaac dropped down gracefully beside the three Seals. "You guys alright?"

"We're okay now. Thanks Isaac," replied Jake gratefully.

"No problem. So what do we do now?" replied Isaac.

"We…" began Jake. "Wait. Why am I the leader?"

"I'm not a leader-type, unlike you, and I prefer it that way. It's easier for me to take orders than give them. You seem suited for it anyway."

"You're really sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

Jake sighed resignedly, but his eyes still retained a determined gleam in them. "Fine. Let's do this then. And let's make it quick too. You got a way to trap these freaks right where they're standing?"

* * *

Universe 1566

Matt, both arms encased in earth and outstretched, charged towards a small group of Zombies as Ken moved in front of him in a blue blur and engaged them, zipping in and out of the melee and providing a distraction. At the very last moment, he leaped out of harm's way, leaving the Zombies unprepared for Matt's rushing attack which flattened the whole lot of them. Ken was already running towards his elder brother while Matt headed in the opposite direction to help Rachel out.

Brian was still shooting off fireballs at the Zombie but was slowly losing against the massive number of Zombies Razorpoint kept creating. The situation called for a change in tactics. "Setsuna!" yelled Brian. Nadare disappeared and a new flame dragon burst out of his hand, this one a blind vengeful-looking one-eyed dragon composed of ragged flames. Being blind didn't stop Setsuna from glaring intimidatingly at the Zombies. "Shun En!"

There was a sudden burst of intense flame that flared out of Setsuna's mouth, incinerating the Zombies. Whatever Zombies were left were quickly dispatched of by Ken who had instantaneously appeared behind them after Setsuna's attack, cutting them down using lightning blades on his wrists. There was a momentary calm. The four regrouped and checked themselves for injuries. "You think it's over?" asked Rachel.

"I wouldn't bet on it. That crazy old freak's still about somewhere," muttered Matt. Alarms bells suddenly rang out in their heads. "MOVE!!" yelled Brian as all four leaped out of harm's way, narrowly escaping from four extremely sharp tendrils that had shot out from the ground beneath them. The black shadow expanded from a small black speck on the pavement and the stooped hooded figure of Razorpoint rose out slowly from within. He leered sinisterly, yellow teeth gleaming from within his black hood.

"**Miss me?"**

* * *

Universe 1566

Jake and his group had wiped up the first wave of Zombies but did not even have time for a break as the next wave of Cursed Zombies and Demons attacked them. The 4 Seals were powerful, but they were dealing with massive numbers. "We gotta draw out the main boss here. He's obviously got a whole lot of mojo if he's able to keep making these things, Isaac," said Jake.

"What's your plan?" asked Kyle to his left.

"It's not a good one, but it's the best I've got. Instantly destroy this wave and use our powers to cause collateral damage, forcing him out of his hiding spot. According to legend, we're supposedly the most powerful mortals to exist, right? We should be able to do something along those lines. What do you guys think?"

"I'm game," said Cassie.

"Me too," said Kyle.

"Count me in," said Isaac. "I might have something up my sleeve that'll help us clear Stage 1, but I need you guys to buy me 30 seconds."

"You got it,"chorused the other three as they attacked the Zombies head-on, creating a small space for Isaac to focus. As he concentrated, his bird-summons stopped their attacks on the Zombies and flew back to him, reverting to their original spell card forms and swirling around him in circles. The cards, as they flew around Isaac, began to arrange themselves in a long chain until it was as though a large snake of cards was winding itself around Isaac. This went on for a few more seconds, the cards steadily acquiring a purple glow, and then the card-snake suddenly broke up into a multitutde of cards hovering around their master. One by one, they began to stack themselves on top of each other in front of Isaac, the star markings disappearing while the cards themselves turned purple. In a few seconds, there was a stack of spell cards in front of Isaac at chest-level. The topmost card jutted itself out three quarters of the way, and the stack of cards floated to Isaac's right hand. He smiled as he grabbed the card that was jutting out. "This, Chaos Legion, is my Blade."

Instantly the stack of cards extended itself so that all the cards were connected loosely by their tips, giving the Blade the look of a whip. Isaac flicked the Blade carelessly, confidently. "Now!" he yelled as he suddenly swung his Blade in a wide arc in front of him. The other three, prepared for this, jumped easily to safety as the Blade, extended to its full length cut a huge hemispherical swath into the Zombies in front, decimating a third of them. He followed up, pulling his arm back for a quick strike as the cards slid back on top of one another again. "HAHHHH!!"

Isaac thrust out his sword arm sharply as his Blade again extended itself, this time in a straight line. Zombies directly in its path were skewered by it. The Zombies fought back by firing energy blasts at Isaac who answered with a flick of his Blade. Instantly, the Blade transformed itself to its stack form again before extending itself into a spiral shield in front of Isaac, easily protecting him. But he wasn't done yet. He closed his eyes.

The star markings on the cards appeared in white and glowed brightly before firing off their own energy blasts at the Zombies, destroying them. A third of the second wave of the Zombies remained.

* * *

Universe 1566:

"These guys just keep coming!" shouted Rachel as she fended off two Zombies attacking her non-stop. "We need to take them out fast and hit the old guy!" With the help of Brian's flame dragons, Ken's group had managed to defeat two waves of the Chaos Legion's minions and were now dealing with a third wave. Their efforts to attack Razorpoint himself had been useless so far as he preferred to hide himself in the shadows, choosing instead to keep sending Zombies to attack the four.

"I'm thinking now would be a good time for you lot to use your Blades" remarked Isaac as he summoned a new flame dragon that formed a curved blade on the side of his right wrist.

"Blades?" asked Matt.

"Yeah, each Seal's supposed to have his own personal weapon, a Blade of some sort. I'm surprised Isaac didn't tell you guys about it."

"Kinda pointless telling us about them when we don't even know how to get them. Are we supposed to go questing for them or what?" asked Matt again.

"Of course not," muttered Ken sarcastically, "the knowledge will just…come to us, right? How convenient."

"Don't blame me, that's what I heard, bro."

Matt turned angrily to Brian. "Well that's just bull…" he opened his mouth when he was suddenly hit by a fierce energy blast from behind which slammed him into a two-storey building ruined by the fighting. This was followed by the heavily-damaged building collapsing on him. "Matt!" yelled the others as they rushed to his aid. Unfortunately, they were prevented from doing so by five Cursed Demons blocking their way.

The other Zombies advanced towards the huge pile of rubble with Matt inside, sinister smiles on their faces. Some combined into Demons. Others sprouted blades on themselves. None of them seemed to notice the slight rumbling that was coming from within the rubble itself. It was too late for them when they finally sensed it, which had intensified during that period.

The rubble suddenly exploded outwards with an almighty boom as Matt slowly stood up from within the wreckage, sporting minor injuries and a pissed-off face. Slowly and deliberately, he took his time dusting himself off as his body began to glow a deep green and the faint blurry image of a green minotaur came into view. The Zombies reacted to this by blasting away at him with reckless abandon. Most of the attacks hit Matt dead-on, but he wasn't hurt by the blasts. He wasn't even fazed by them and seemed to barely notice the energy bolts bouncing off his body. The attacks slowed down and soon stopped, leaving a bunch of bewildered Cursed Zombies and Demons.

Matt smirked. "Is that it? Well then, looks like it's my turn then."

Like before, he crouched low, concentrating hard as the emerald light around him focused itself around both hands. In quick succession, he punched the ground with his left and then right fist. He slowly stood up, his right arm outstretched, as a mound of earth grew beneath his hand. The mound grew in size and height while everybody else stood dumbstruck until it was as tall as Matt himself. The top of the mound broke then crumbled into bits, revealing a circular hilt.

The Zombies finally broke out of their stupor and charged straight at Matt, who just grinned as he grabbed the hilt firmly and pulled out a huge buster sword from out of the mound of earth. "It's go time!" he whooped as he ran head-on into the Zombies, his Blade held up high.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8: Boss Fight

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 8: Boss Fight

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566

The Zombies stood rooted to the spot, unsure of their next move, as Matt ran headlong into them, bringing down his huge Blade as he did so. With a great slash, he decimated a great number of them before slashing sideways again, missing this time. The Zombies leapt out of the way and now targeted Matt, who they deemed to be the greater threat. It was a big mistake for which they paid dearly as Brian, Ken and Rachel tore into them without mercy.

In a sudden flash of clarity, the two other Seals broke off their attacks and concentrated hard, focusing energy upon. A yellow ball of light was growing on Rachel's left hand as electricity crackled around Ken's open hands. From the lightning, there appeared slowly a silver-blue cylinder with peculiar markings inscribed onto it. In the meantime, the hilt of a sword also began to protrude from the ball of light in Rachel's left hand. Without hesitation, she pulled out a long thin rapier smoothly from the ball, the ball of light diminishing as she did so. The Blade materialized just in time for her to skewer a Zombie through its heart. She turned around to be greeted by a small mob of Cursed Zombies heading for her. Quickly, she made rapid thrusts with her rapier in the direction of the Zombies, leaving creations of yellow light in the shape of her Blade. She powered it up, and with a loud cry thrust her Blade forward hard, sending the swords of light flying straight into the Zombies, spearing them where they stood.

Meanwhile, Ken was still busy fending off persistent Cursed Zombies and Demons as he held the strange silver cylinder in his hand. He flicked it up into the air, and then blocked a barrage of energy bolts streaming at him from all directions by instantaneously creating a lightning shield with a single movement of his hand. There was a momentary pause in the attack, and Ken responded with a Lightning Smash attack that wiped out a half of his opponents. The cylinder dropped back cleanly onto his hand as he twirled it around casually. Ken moved to face the Zombies as he held the cylinder in front of him in an offensive stance, the open end of the cylinder facing downwards. The Zombies fired back even more energy bolts with a renewed fervour. A blade of blue light suddenly extended from the open end of the cylinder and Ken swung his Blade in a wide arc in front of him as he sliced the Zombies attacking him in half. He leapt out of harm's way easily, batting away the energy bolts with his energy blade, and moved quickly into a deadly dance of thrusts and slashes as the Blade cut bright arcs of blue light around it into the mass of Cursed Zombies.

The three Seals now moved to attack the Zombies head-on, with Ken directing Matt to take point with his huge buster sword while he and Rachel brought up the flanks with their own Blades. The three worked in perfect harmony, whittling down the numbers slowly as Brian provided cover fire from behind with Nadare's Dan-En attack. The four gradually began to make their way to the centre of the mass of Cursed Zombies where the dark energy was strongest. The Zombies fired their strongest attcks yet, momentarily driving back the four, even Matt with his huge Blade. As the Zombies fired off a second wave of attacks, Brian leapt in front of the other three and summoned a new flame dragon. "Madoka!" he yelled.

Brian's fifth flame dragon burst out from his right hand with a great roar and circled him while rising up majestically into the air. It shot flame out of its mouth, the flame reforming itself into a shield that protected the four from further attacks, catching the Zombies off-guard. Without wasting any time, the three Seals leapt up above the barrier in three directions, bringing down their own Blades with a loud battlecry each.

* * *

Universe 1566

Kyle yelled out in surprise as all the Zombies made a shock move and leapt at him abruptly, breaking off their attacks on the other three. Again they had changed tactics and were now trying to take down all four Seals in Isaac's spirit shield one by one instead of spreading their forces. Unfortunately, the other three were too far away, having spread themselves out in the battlefield. Nevertheless, they could sense Kyle's momentary panic and immediately rushed to where he was. They were greeted by a small mountain of black suits on the spot where Kyle had been standing only moments earlier. There was no sign of him. Bageheera, in his Blade form, snarled softly.

But Kyle hadn't gone down yet. As the black mass before them throbbed and pulsated with dark energy, the three Seals suddenly felt a gentle breeze seeping out from within. The breeze slowly got stronger and stronger. "Back off. Kyle's planning something big," warned Isaac to both Jake and Cassie. Just as the three had moved back to a safe distance, the black mass of Chaos Legion forces suddenly exploded outwards with a loud boom as wind swirled fiercely all over the place.

The sudden blast of wind from Kyle left Zombies twitching on the ground as he stood, sporting minor injuries all over but still able to fight. The wind that had exploded fiercely was still going strongly and was now gathered around its master, whipping his hair in all directions as it began to swirl faster around him. As the wind circled Kyle faster and faster, white specks of light began to appear, dotting the vortex of wind all over. These specks now gathered at a point just above and in front of Kyle, combining and changing until the other three could make out a sword forming itself. At the same time the wind vortex surrounding Kyle was beginning to subside in both speed and volume. The Blade that was forming itself in front of Kyle was now shaping itself into a Chinese saber. When the wind around Kyle had stopped, the Blade dropped straight down, only to be caught by Kyle who gave it a few practice swings to get a feel of its balance. He smiled grimly. "I like."

Again the Zombies rushed at Kyle, only to be thrown back by a fierce gust of wind by Kyle, who then followed up his attack and sent a few wind razors their way before running straight at them. He was followed closely by the other Seals. With a renewed determination, the four attacked the Zombies and fought their way into the centre of the mass of Zombies where Jake had his own surprise for the Zombies. Protected by his friends, the leader of the Seals prepared to release his Blade.

* * *

Universe 1566

The ground was littered with defeated Zombies as 3 Seals and a metahuman Mithril agent rested against a nearby wall catching their breath from the difficult battle, the Blades gone for the moment. Tired from standing, Matt slumped to the ground where he sprawled all over it, breathing heavily. "Let's…not…do that again," he wheezed. The others could only manage weak nods. Even with their new-found abilities, the three Seals had been unprepared for the massive force that they had just dealt with. Brian was faring better, being the more experienced and fitter fighter, but even he was taking his time resting. Worry filled his mind. The War-General Razorpoint was a new foe, even for him; the Mithril agents had only been dealing with their Warlord subordinates and so had no idea whatsoever on the best way to deal with them than through sheer power. _It only took one guy to hold three Seals to a standstill, and that was just by sending his goons. If he's gonna go for real…_

Matt, attuned to the earth through his powers, began to sense a faint stirring in the ground. "Something big's coming from below," he said worriedly, glancing at the others. Even as they quickly got up and moved away from the location, nothing could prepare them for the sight of four black shadow tendril breaking out from underground and spearing Ken through both shoulders and thighs. The shocked expression on Ken's face was almost frozen in time as he flopped to the floor in a dead heap in front of the other three. It remained in place as he lay limply on the ground, the blood pooling under his body.

"KEN!"

* * *

Universe 1566

Jake ran two fingers along the surface of his Blade, powering it up with bright flame. To his left, both Kyle and Isaac were sending power to their own Blades, as was Cassie on his right. The combined amount of power was sending minor shockwaves just by itself towards the Zombies, pushing them back against their will. The Zombies were giving as well as they got, however, and pushed their inhuman powers to the limit, straining against the makeshift forcefield. At a signal from Jake, the other three moved into a protective formation in front of him as he kept concentrating. Then, at the same instant, the three swung their Blades in three big arcs. Immediately after releasing their power, all three leapt up and followed up this attack with another long range attack, with Isaac reforming his Blade into the bird summons, Cassie changing Bagheera into a portable missile launcher and firing away gamely and Kyle sending out amplified wind razors with his Blade.

In the meantime, Jake had raised his Blade high above his head, the flame engulfing it growing larger and stronger by the second. With a loud yell, he thrust it hard with both hands into the ground. The flame on his Blade flowed down into the ground and travelled in multiple jagged lines towards the Zombies, burning them. Without waiting, he cut right into them, slashing any Zombie that had evaded the flame and making quick work of them. After a short while, all the Zombies had been destroyed, disintegrating into nothingness, leaving only the destruction around as proof of their coming. Jake looked meaningfully at Isaac, who was now walking towards him, Kyle and Cassie behind him. "That's it for the grunts then. Where's the jerk that sent them?" he asked.

"Hiding in the shadows in that back alley there," said Kyle unexpectedly, pointing south, before Isaac even had a chance to answer. Isaac just nodded in reply to Jake's questioning look before running off in the direction that Kyle had pointed without waiting for the rest.

* * *

Universe 1566

The spirit shield created by Ken started breaking down in splotches as Brian and Matt, supporting the semi-unconscious Ken on their shoulders, moved as fast as they could to a safe location with Rachel bringing up the rear. Along the way, they bumped into many civilian onlookers who were simply shocked to see 4 people appearing out of thin air in front of them, one of whom was badly injured. Brian felt his younger brother beginning to stir.

"Somewhere…isolated…" he groaned in pain, "where there're no innocents."

"Just hang on, Ken. It's gonna be fine."

"While…the shield's…still…up…get to somewhere…where…there're no people. Once…the shield's…down…Matt…Rachel…one of you…set up…"

"We got it dude. You just get some rest," replied Matt worriedly.

"Brian, there's a park nearby. It's nearly always empty so we can go there and make a stand," said Rachel.

"Good idea, but we gotta move quickly. The shield's breaking down faster."

"Here, let me take care of it," said Matt as he hoisted Ken on his shoulders, earning a weak grumble from his friend. "Dude, you're not in a position to complain here. You're injured, man, so shut up," he chided, "just lemme carry ya to safety alright?"

"Watch out!" yelled Rachel abruptly as black shadow tendrils suddenly erupted from behind them. Pushing the guys away, she swivelled and cut down the tendrils before they had the chance to do any more damage.

"Man, these things are starting to get on my nerves!" yelled Matt as he kept running with Brian beside him while Rachel brought up their rear.

"Took you long enough," she muttered while slashing yet another group of tendrils to bits. "I know this place. The park's nearby…about two minutes away. Follow me guys!"

But Razorpoint had no intention of letting his prey have their way. He launched his biggest attack yet as tendril after tendril erupted from the ground and headed straight for the small group. Surprisingly every single one of them missed their four targets and instead sped on by, leaving them bewildered.

"They missed? He missed? What the hell?" asked Matt. It was then that they saw what was directly in front of them: a gas station. The tendrils were aiming straight for its pumps.

"Ah hell."

The blast of flame that appeared before them threw them backwards with a great force, slamming them against a wall where they slid to the ground, all four unconscious.

* * *

Universe 1566

Jake and his team were now chasing a black hooded figure across the rooftops. Thanks to Kyle, they had managed to surprise and ambush the Warlord. Its experience in battle was showing, though, as it had managed to escape them. Pursuing it was a tough business. As the team raced along the rooftops, the trail suddenly went dead. They had lost the Warlord.

"What the hell…" Jake began as he looked around for any sign of the black hooded figure. "Kyle? Can you still sense him?"

"Yeah. He's around here somewhere."

"I'm getting the same feeling too, Jake," said Isaac.

"Let's fan out. Remain within sight and extend your senses. We're gonna flush out this guy and take him down," Jake ordered grimly as flame began to flow out his hands and envelop his body. A distance away, wind was moving fiercely in a vortex from Kyle, as were the spirit cards that surrounded Isaac. The pinkish glow that covered Cassie grew brighter and stronger with every minute. All four had closed their eyes.

Kyle's eyes opened abruptly. "Found you," he smirked as he made a sharp slashing motion with his right hand to his left. The wind razor cut through a spatial rift by the side of a building, six floors up, revealing the unmistakeable hooded figure of a Warlord. The Warlord, shocked by how easily the Seals had found him, summoned a small wave of Cursed Demons, sending them at the group. The Seals were prepared for it this time around, though, and easily defeated the Demons before heading straight for the shocked Warlord. The Warlord, however, was not ready to die just yet.

There was a shockwave of dark energy echoed by a thunderous boom and the four Seals were momentarily thrown back by the force. Where there was once a Warlord, now there was a blob of dark energy, pulsing angrily. The Seals tensed up, waiting for the Warlord's next move. They didn't have to wait long.

The Warlord suddenly shot out little blobs of slime at the Seals. It was like being shot at by paintballs, only in this case there seemed to be a never-ending supply of balls and these melted whatever they hit, burning through concrete and metal. Even as the Seals leapt high up in the air to avoid them, the balls of black slime always seemed to hone in on them even though the Warlord remained rooted to his spot.

"Kyle! Divert them!" yelled Jake as he twisted in mid-air, narrowly avoiding a small barrage of the balls.

"I'm on it!" shouted Kyle in reply. Concentrating, he pooled wind into both palms of his hand so that he now held two mini tornadoes in his hands. Using these two, he sucked the balls into the tornadoes and held them inside, careful not to let the balls hit him. In the meantime, Cassie and Isaac now launched attacks of their own at the Warlord. Immediately after attacking, they leapt out of harm's way as Kyle now used the mini tornadoes to fire back the Warlord's own slime blobs back at him. At the same time, Jake used the chance to light all the balls now rushing at the Warlord on fire with a single swing of his Blade. The fire had its intended effect.

The flaming slime blobs that hit the Warlord set him alight too and the Warlord panicked, trying to summon more slime in order to smother the flames. Distracted, he was unable to do anything about the long Blade of spirit cards that suddenly skewerd him. Struggling to escape, he was pushed back by a strong wind, courtesy of Kyle, that kept him trapped. He looked up to see Jake running down on Isaac's Blade toward him, his own Blade alight with strong flame. "Haaahhh!" yelled Jake as he jumped and slashed down hard, cutting the Warlord in two.

The destruction of the Warlord, however, meant that the remaining Zombies that had been sealed inside the Spirit Shield were now out of control. Having no master to control them, they went about destroying everything in their path indiscriminately. The four Seals, Bagheera in his familiar form and perched at his usual spot on Cassie's head, stood at the edge of a rooftop, surveying the chaos before them.

"Looks like we've got some cleaning up to do," Cassie commented as she willed Bagheera into a Blade again. The rest just grinned as they summoned their own Blades again.

* * *

Universe 1566

The pool of black shadow grew from a tiny black speck on the ground and Razorpoint rose up from within. Smiling evilly, he glided over to where Ken was slumped on the ground, a few metres from the other three who were just beginning to regain consciousness. Smirking at their inability to help Ken, Razorpoint changed his right arm into a sharp long tendril and raised it high, preparing to stab Ken viciously with it. Just as he thrust down, Ken opened his eyes and grinned up at the old man cheekily.

"Acting! Tadah!" he crowed as he rolled out of the way, and sweep-kicked the old War-General of his feet before following up a strong punch to the face that slammed Razorpoint to the ground. Razorpoint retaliated with a quick swipe but Ken dodged nimbly, rejoining his teammates. Razorpoint smiled, then wiped of a small trickle of blood down his lip from Ken's punch.

**"Not bad. Not bad at all. You Mithril lackeys are certainly turning out to be more interesting than I thought."**

"Yeah? Well, round two starts here, old man," replied Ken. "And this time, we're ready to play."

** "I see. Well, that certainly is reassuring. Just don't die too fast," **replied the War-General as tendrils burst out from all over his body and headed straight for the group.

* * *

Universe 1566

Jake casually flicked the blood off his sword as Kyle stood beside him, concentrating on taking down his spirit shield. Cassie in the meantime was sitting on the edge of the rooftop they were on playing with Bagheera while Isaac was fiddling with his earpiece that had somehow gotten damaged during the fight. "Why – won't – this – stupid – thing…ah there we go. Hey Van. 'Sup? Hold on, let me put this on speakerphone."

"I see you took care of business on your end."

Bagheera growled softly at the earpiece, which drew questioning looks from the guys at Cassie.

"Bagheera says we kicked major butt," she chipped in.

"Yeah, what she said," said Isaac, "plus these kids managed to summon their Blades, too."

"Hey that's great news! Nice!"

"So, all in all, a job well done, right?" asked Isaac.

"Not exactly," Van's voice turned sombre. "We lost contact with Brian and his team a few minutes ago. The good news is that Ken managed to set up a shield, so civilian injuries were kept to a minimum. The bad news is that the last video transmissions from both Ken's and Brian's commlinks weren't exactly full of good news. Ken's badly injured. Shortly after his commlink died Brian's followed suit; the whole group was caught in an explosion."

"Damn."

"Yeah. Damn. Look, I don't know how your Seal powers work, but can you guys do something to help? Is it possible for Seals to enter another's spirit shield after it's been set up?"

"Only one way to find out," replied Jake who had been looking off into the distance, pointing at a blue spirit shield in the distance. "We'll get back to you as soon as we've found out, Van. Let's go guys."

* * *

Universe 1566

Razorpoint stood in the middle of the park, his hooded face only showing his menacing grin, as his tendrils lashed out all around him at four blurs attacking from all directions. The four fighters meanwhile were relentlessly attacking him trying to find an opening they could exploit. Two tendrils shot out at one of the blurs, but Brian twisted and dodged them. He then grabbed a tendril each and yanked hard, pulling Razorpoint towards him who retaliated by shooting off even more tendrils at them.

The new incoming tendrils were suddenly deflected by Rachel's light rapiers. Brian took advantage of Razorpoint's momentary indecision to send flame towards the War-General through the tendrils he was holding while Razorpoint hurtled towards him. He then kicked out hard, sending a temporarily aflame Razorpoint flying into a tree. The tree suddenly burst into dark purple flames as a snarling Razorpoint got to his feet. The four fighters were standing in a line in front of him. With an angry growl, he leapt with blinding speed at them.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Matt as he stamped hard on the ground, causing spikes of earth to pop out of the ground. With a second stamp, he fired a salvo of earth spikes at Razorpoint who narrowly dodged in time. The War-General looked up to see Ken above him in the air. "This is payback from just now, old man!" Ken yelled as he let loose a barrage of attacks at super-speed at Razorpoint. Razorpoint was flung back by the force of Ken's attacks and was again slammed into a nearby tree.

**"How…dare…you?"** he growled. **"Do you actually think I'd let you off with this. Such an insult to me…UNFORGIVABLE!" **With that scream he sprouted tendrils all over his body, the tips of which changed into weapons of all sorts. **"DIE!" **he shrieked as the tendrils fired alll at once.

"Scatter!" Ken yelled as he leapt and dodged gunfire from all directions. The others immediately followed suit. Although the enraged Razorpoint remained rooted to his spot, his tendrils moved all around him, attacking the four without stopping. Without warning, the tendrils suddenly headed toward Brian as Razorpoint grinned maniacally. **"I'll kill you…kill you all…one. By. One."**

Brian was able to set up his flame shield in time, but the War-General's attack was so strong that the shield was shattered and Brian was flown back into a pond nearby. Razorpoint sent the tendrils again towards a winded Brian who was struggling to get back up. Just in time, Ken leapt to his brother's rescue and set up a shield of his own. Being a Seal, he managed to hold it after the first attack. However, Razorpoint kept up the attacks on Ken's shield. The unending attacks on his shield, coupled with the earlier skewering that he'd endured were rapidly weakening Ken. "Don't know…how long…I…can keep…this…up…"

With a burst of effort, Ken raced at Razorpoint while still maintaining his shield, trying to corner the War-General. He managed to sandwich Razorpoint between his shield and a tree. Matt was already running towards Razorpoint behind the tree, Blade grasped firmly, intending to slice both tree and War-General in half from behind. But Razorpoint was having none of it.

There was a loud explosion and both Seals were flung backward onto the ground. As both lay on the ground, trying to get back up, Brian and Rachel came racing to their aid, standing in front of them. Tendrils writhing, ready to strike and impale the four at any moment, Razorpoint simply stood there and looked on grimly. **"I tire of this. You four have lived long enough. Goodbye."**

With blinding speed, the tendrils lashed out at the four. There was a sudden blast of wind, and all the attacking tendrils were all cut down swiftly by a seemingly invisible force, eliciting a painful scream from Razorpoint. The four turned to see Jake and Kyle running towards them, followed a split second later by Cassie and Isaac who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Kyle slashed the air again, sending another wind razor at Razorpoint who was prepared this time and deflected it away angrily. Jake's team reached their friends and stood in front of them. Jake smirked. "Well what do you know. We can get in after all."

* * *

Universe 1566 (Mithril HQ)

On the viewscreen in front of Karl Fanell and his wife, Ken collapsed, the sheer effort of maintaining his shield in his weakened state finally getting the better of him. Jessica Fanell gave instructions to her medical staff to ready their facilities for an incoming emergency metahuhan patient as Karl gave orders to Brian and Isaac to finish things up quickly and to protect Ken.

"No way, Dad," said Ken over the line. "I'm still good to go…I'm not giving up this fight just yet. I'm not gonna lose…not to this geezer."

"Then finish it fast."

"Roger." Karl could almost hear his son smiling grimly.

* * *

Universe 1566

Slowly, Ken got up to his feet, wincing involuntarily. Noticing this, Razorpoint attacked the group again. Both Isaac and Brian were ready for it and set up their shields while Jake, Matt, Rachel and Kyle attacked Razorpoint. While the War-General was occupied, Cassie went to Ken, a hand on his shoulder. "Let me help you with that," she smiled. He stood there shocked as the hand glowed pink and energy from it seemed to fill him up. It took him a while to realize that she was healing his injuries. "Hey thanks, Cass. I owe you one."

She smiled again. "Just take care of him," she said, jerking her head at the marauding Razorpoint, "and we'll call it even."

Ken grinned at her. "Sounds like a plan to me," he said as he broke contact with her and ran towards Razorpoint, summoning his Blade. His friends, sensing his movement, leaped up at the last minute, leaving a shocked Razorpoint suddenly fighting desperately to avoid Ken's fierce slashing. Ken dodged then let loose a charged punch straight at Razorpoint's face, leaving him temporarily paralysed. As he struggled to break free of the paralysis, Ken leapt up high as the other 6 Seals also rushed toward Razorpoint, Blades in hand.

Brian stood awestruck as the seven Seals worked together to deliver a series of damging strikes, one after another, a graceful and deadly dance of Blades. At the end of it, the Seals stood in a circle around the War-General, backs facing him as he fell to a heap behind them, Blades held ready. They turned to face him. His wounds were many, his anger and humiliation at defeat clear.

**"This…isn't…over…"** he groaned painfully. His eyes settled on Ken, who was looking at him coldly. **"You…are…mine…whelp." **

He suddenly dissolved into a pool of black shadow on the ground which shrank, then disappeared completely. Razorpoint had gotten away. But the six teenagers, having survived their first real fight, had survived. They had won. All flopped to the ground on their backs, taking great deep breaths as they lay on the cool grass. Matt was the first to speak up.

"Seriously. Let's never do that again, yeah?"

"Fat chance. You know they'll be back for more, no use asking for it, right?" rebutted Rachel beside him.

"Is that right?" wheezed Ken. "Heh. It doesn't matter."

"Yeah…" said Jake, "Next time, we'll be ready for 'em." The other teenagers nodded in reply

"You mean…" started Brian questioningly.

"Yeah. We're in."


	9. Chapter 9: Training

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 9: Training

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe ?

A small pool of black shadow slithered slowly into the cavern, leaving a small trail of black slime as it did so. There was a faint painful groan coming from it. On reaching the entrance to a large cavern, the shadow reformed itself and a wounded Razorpoint leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. He glanced inside the cavern then swore loudly. **"I hate asking for energy from that pompous brat…"** he muttered as he hobbled painfully inside the cavern.

It was pitch-black inside. Razorpoint walked inside a few steps, and then stopped. He waited a few seconds. Nothing happened. A muscle twitched above his eye. **"TURN ON THE BLOODY LIGHTS YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!" **he bellowed loudly, dark energy bursting momentarily from him.

**"Oh fine, if you're going to be so snippy about it," **replied a distorted, disembodied voice somewhere in the cavern irritatedly. The cavern was suddenly bathed in light, and it certainly looked a whole lot different. The cave was a dirty orange, and its walls were dotted with pulsating globes of decaying flesh of different sizes. Aside from the disgusting decorations, the cave walls were riddled all over with small white alien larvae, little fat creatures with no heads or eyes but a mouth full of sharp teeth at one end and a tail extension that glowed dimly at the other. These larvae were feeding on the slimy brown liquid that constantly oozed out of the pustules. **"That better, Razorpoint?"** asked the distorted voice again. It was as if the larvae themselves were speaking all at the same time.

**"That's much better," **Razorpoint replied grudgingly. **"I need some healing, Maggot."**

** "So I see. The work of the Seven Seals, am I right?"**

** "I underestimated them." **Razorpoint winced. **"It was a painful price to pay."**

** "Did they pay the same price as you?"**

** "In a manner of speaking. I severely wounded one of them. A Fanell. But he'll live to fight me again, I'm sure of it. I will wait for that window…and when it appears again I will enjoy his death. Now heal me."**

** "Yes yes, you old codger, I know. Give me a while." **Numbers of larvae gathered at a spot in front of Razorpoint. From the mass a vaguely humanoid figure made up entirely of those larvae rose up from the ground, all the while making disgusting squelching sounds. What passed for a mouth broke into a cheeky grin. **"Did I creep you out, old man?"** Maggot asked.

Razorpoint fixed a cold glare at him. **"Maggot…I am losing my patience."**

** "You know, you're a really boring War-General, you know that? At least Aeon's some fun…" **went Maggot as he walked over to a giant throbbing pustule. With a hard kick, it burst open splattering slime all over Maggot, revealing two humans chained by his larvae. He licked at the slime casually and went over to the person on the right, slapping the man's cheek lightly. **"Wakey-wakey, sunshine. It's feeding time."**

Groaning, the young man opened his eyes slowly. On seeing Maggot's grotesque figure, he broke into a loud terrified scream. Maggot just stood there sighing, and then raised his right arm at the prisoner. Swarms of alien larvae burst from his hand into the shocked man's mouth. The man struggled frantically letting out muffled screams before his eyes finally rolled back and he slumped against the wall, dead. The alien larvae did not waste time, consuming the corpse from the inside and outside until only the bones were left.

**"I have to say, even though these humans provide some of the best life-force, they sure are noisy,"** said Maggot as he killed the dead man's partner and sent his larvae to consume her too. Razorpoint said nothing as he stood in front of the first group of larvae, absorbing the little particles of energy that now emanated from their tails. A small, cruel smile grew on his face.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (the following weekend)

Ken stood in the middle of the training room, breathing steadily, extending his senses. 10 mechanical fighters stood around him in a rough circle. Far above him, Van stood on the command platform, while a Mithril technician rapidly tapped in instructions into the computer for the practice bout. With a final tap on the keyboard, he turned and gave the ok signal to Van.

"Ken," said Van into his commlink, "you ready?"

"All set."

"This will be a timed match. Take out all the 'bots as fast as possible, no Blade. Feel free to use your lightning powers, though. The computer will start timing the moment you make a move. It's all you now, kiddo."

Ken just kept quiet, and took a deep, steadying breath. He crouched slightly, body tensed. There was a faint blue glow. And then he was gone in a flash. High above the training ground, Van leaned on the safety railing and watched as Ken proceeded to make short work of the training bots. He was done in ten seconds. He looked up to the sound of clapping, and then caught a sport bottle wrapped in a towel thrown down by Van. His voice came in through Ken's commlink.

"Great job there, little brother. Ten 'bots in ten seconds."

Ken grinned. "Does this mean I get a break?"

"Sure. Come on up, Lisa just brought lunch," said Van as he greeted his younger sister who just walked in the entrance to the training room carrying a tray of food. Ken easily leapt up a series of platforms and vaulted over the railing where the rest were happily tucking in. "Where're the others? Weren't they supposed to meet us here for lunch?"

"Maybe they're still training."

"Well then I guess I'll help myself to these," said Ken as he reached out for a couple of chicken wings and started eating, chomping on them happily. He paused in the middle of stuffing himself. "By the way, Van what're we doin' after this?"

"More training, what'd you expect?" asked Lisa disbelievingly, only to be answered with a withering look from her brother.

"You're no help, you know that?"

"Overload," said Van as he continued eating. "Next up is a little Overload, for all seven of you."

"Overload?" exclaimed Ken incredulously as he accidentally choked on some chicken. "Tell me you're joking, bro."

Smiling to himself, Van ignored his brother and walked out the training room. Ken looked at his sister, then at his brother's retreating figure. He suddenly scrambled to his feet and chased after his brother, protesting all the way. Lisa grinned through a mouthful of chicken as she continued eating.

* * *

Universe ?

The light glowing on Razorpoint from the last larva finally faded away. The War-General smiled grimly as the larvae scuttled away, some rejoining their master who stood facing his 'brother', others with their brethren on the grimy walls of the caverns. Maggot couldn't hide the smirk in his voice. **"Feeling all better?"**

Razorpoint nodded tersely. He hated having to be healed, and he especially hated asking favours form Maggot. Grudgingly he spoke. **"I suppose I owe you one."**

** "Oh no, no! This one's on the house, Razorpoint! We War-Generals need to stick together, after all."**

Razorpoint exhaled impatiently; he suddenly disappeared, reappearing suddenly right in front of Maggot, his face thrust in front of Maggot's own. Maggot had not moved, but his larvae on the walls tensed up, still. The cavern was suddenly quiet.

**"What kind of fool do you think I am?" **Razorpoint asked sinisterly. **"I know you. Tell me what you want in return, or your larvae might need to do a second job. A more thorough job, at that."**

** "Alright, you win."** Maggot's voice had changed too, becoming more business-like. **"I want you to ask Father on my behalf for permission to rampage in the human world. In case you forgot, I'm kinda grounded."**

** "In case you forgot," **said Razorpoint irritatedly, emphasizing the words,** "you went overboard the last time, a hundred years ago you idiot. You killed our client just so you could satisfy your bloodlust. Because you wanted a quick fix, you deprived our Father of life-force, life-force that you knew was meant for him. The client was a human smuggler; he could have provided us a meager, yet steady supply. You blew it, plain and simple."**

** "And that was a hundred years ago!" **Maggot snarled. **"I'm getting sick of consuming my reserves. I want fresh life-force!"**

Razorpoint turned away, smiling to himself. He could not hide his satisfaction of seeing the normally-joking Maggot on edge. He walked out the cavern, stopping at the exit. **"I will do what I can, but remember. The Master does not forget easily."**

** "You owe me, Razorpoint! You owe me!"**

Razorpoint laughed evilly and strode out the cavern, still chuckling to himself.

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (Main Training Chamber)

The Seals were gathered in the main training chamber, the largest of all the rooms. A circle-shaped room, the training chamber was ringed by a raised command platform, on which Mithril personnel were standing. It easily dwarfed the other rooms that the newcomers had trained in, with a floor area that was bigger than the combined area of four rooms. Over on the ringed platform, Van had activated a hidden switch on the wall near the entrance, revealing an array of training consoles built into the walls themselves. He and Brian went over to two of the consoles, punching in procedures while Ken and Isaac briefed the other Seals on the next exercise.

"Right," Ken began, "this here's the Training Chamber, or as some of us like to call it -"

"It's just you and Sam," interjected Van cheekily from where he sat.

"Don't forget me! I came up with the nickname!" piped in Brian beside him.

Van instantly shot him down. "It's not original if you copied it from a comic book, man."

"ANYWAY," said Ken impatiently, "this place is also what we call the 'Danger Room'."

"Like the X-Men?" asked Kyle.

"Yeah, and with good reason too," said Ken. "Isaac? Care to explain?"

"The Danger Room's where the combatants are fully tested according to their abilities. The Danger Room is able to simulate environments, weather conditions and so on; it's not something we can fully do with the other training rooms. Besides, since it's the biggest of the lot, we can fit in a lot more combatants than the usual with sufficient room for movement. Because of this, the Danger Room is where we are only able to conduct the really tough training exercises, like the one we're gonna be doing soon enough."

"Overload, right? What exactly is it all about, Ken?" asked Jake curiously.

Ken grimaced slightly. "The only thing worse than Overload is its opposite, Survival. If there's a training exercise out there that's tougher than these two, I haven't heard of it."

"That bad, huh?"

"It's a test of endurance and teamwork while also gauging our individual abilities; basically we get thrown in one at at time along with a whole bunch of bots and we gotta take 'em out as a team, preferably as fast as possible. Let's take the seven of us as an example. Say, Matt goes in first. Computer throws in…maybe 20 bots, which is already a lot. After five minutes, Cassie goes in to back him up and so the computer sends in an additional 25 bots. Five more minutes pass. Jake's turn now, along with 30 fresh bots, and so on. You guys with me so far?"

"Damn."

"You can say that again, Matt" smiled Ken grimly. "Once all the combatants for that exercise are in, the computer sends in a final batch of bots, way bigger than the groups it sent in before and then everybody proceeds to duke it out until every bot is trashed."

"Then Survival is the opposite of this?" asked Rachel

"Exactly," said Isaac. "In Survival, everybody starts out but after a certain amount of time a combatant must leave the arena while bots keep coming but in smaller groups and so on and so forth. It's hard on the person who comes in first or comes out last, depending on the situation."

"Both these training exercises, Overload and Survival, are meant to simulate usual scenarios on the real battle ground itself," continued Ken. "There'll always be a case where one of us will reach the scene first and engage the enemy first while the others are on the way, with the Legion throwing enemies left right and centre at us. Conversely, there might be a case where we get badly hit or incapacitated or are simply unable to fight, one by one, by the enemy, leaving only one or two of us left. Survival and Overload are meant to prepare Mithril agents for that. So I guess to answer your question…yeah. It's that bad."

"So now that you know," said Van as he walked over to them, "I think it's time for us to begin."

* * *

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (Danger Room)

Cassie and Isaac looked on as Jake vaulted over the safety railing and landed hard, legs extended, on top of a small group of training bots which had been trying to sneak up on Ken. The latter nodded his thanks and then, as Jake leapt up and out of the pile, directed electricity through the metal floor towards the fallen bots, frying them instantly. Both looked up to see around 40 bots leaping down on them; this was the batch of training bots that had been deployed when Jake had entered. They never made it to the floor in one piece though, as Kyle who was a short distance away sent a wave of wind razors straight at them.

Matt and Rachel, in the meantime, were standing back to back fighting throwing boulders and balls of light at the bots as they stood within a circle of earth spikes that Matt had created. "How about we throw them a curveball, Matt?" asked Rachel as she created a shield to protect her from gunfire.

Matt grinned. "One surprise coming up!" he yelled out as he suddenly stamped on the ground, launching the ring of earth spikes out of the ground straight at the bots. The other four Seals, having heard his warning, leapt out of harm's way easily enough. They landed confidently and broke up in different directions.

All around the fighters, the remains of training bots were strewn all over the floor of the Danger Room. It had been around 20 minutes since the exercise had started. Ken had started first since he had had prior experience with the exercise before. Matt went in next, followed by Kyle and then Rachel every five minutes, with fresh redeployments of training bots as each Seal went in.

Five minutes later, it was Cassie's turn and she jumped into the arena, summoning Bagheera as she did so. Both split up in different directions; Bagheera headed to where Rachel and Matt were fighting a small but persistent group of bots whereas Cassie went in the opposite direction to where Jake, Ken and Kyle were dealing with a larger group.

Bagheera tore straight into the training bots, fangs bared. It quickly made short work of a bunch of damaged training bots that wouldn't go down and then attacked other bots with gusto leaving two awestruck Seals. The group taken out, Bagheera trotted to Matt for its reward. Matt grinned as he scratched Bagheera behind the ear. "You're cute, and you kick ass. I'm definitely glad you're on our side." He looked up to see another small group of bots advancing towards them. "You want another scratch; you help us take out those buggers."

Bagheera wasted no time in attacking this new group.

"Matt! You better not be bullying Bagheera!" called out Cassie a few metres away. She turned and narrowly missed an attack by a bot. Kicking out, she hit it directly on its chest. As it staggered away, the bot was suddenly electrocuted to a crisp. But it was yellow lightning, not Ken's blue lightning, which still coursed through its remains. The Seals looked towards Cassie and saw an unbelievably cute little critter perched on her left shoulder.

"Is that…" began Jake.

"…a Pikachu?" finished Rachel incredulously.

"What? It was the only one that I could think of!" Cassie answered, somewhat defensively.

"Wait, wait, you're a summoner?"

"Looks like it."

The short conversation was suddenly interrupted by gunfire above them. Both Rachel and Cassie rolled away to the side, dodging the hail of bullets. The gunfire abruptly stopped, and the remains of two training bots suddenly fell to the ground. Ken and Isaac landed coolly in front of them.

"We can talk later after the exercise, ladies. Right now let's just finish this." With that, Ken powered up, letting electricity form around his wrists. He clenched his fists and wrist blades popped out of the energy. He then ran after Isaac who was running straight forward and throwing charged spirit cards at the bots, cutting down any remaining stragglers. The last of the bots finally fell to the ground and the Seals regrouped, catching their breath.

"Now it's just the last group right?" Matt panted.

As if to answer his question, hidden trapdoors opened and out stormed about a hundred bots. Jake moved to the front of the group, taking charge. "Bring out the Blades, guys. Let's finish this."

There was a bright burst of light which then vanished to reveal the Seals standing ready side by side, each holding their respective Blades. "We're good to go, Jake," said Ken.

Cold fire burned in Jake's eyes. He smiled grimly, and as he did so, flame flowed from his body down to the edge of his Blade.

"Take 'em out."

* * *

Universe ?

Razorpoint glided along the tunnel to his own caverns, idly listening to the screams of terror and pain that came out of them, caused by his fellow War-Generals torturing their own captives. There was a gurgling from the cavern on his right as he went past it. He stopped at the entrance to listen.

**"What is it Sludge?"**

More gurgling emanated from within.

**"Father wants to see me? About what? The battle? I see. So I'm to report to him if I'd like a rematch with them, eh?**

There was another round of gurgling followed by a long hiss.

**"Well, I'm not too happy about having to bring Maggot along; Father's always pampered that spoilt brat. But I suppose I can let him get all the life-force he wants as long as he leaves the Fanell Seal to me." **He bowed slightly in the direction of the gurgling. **"My thanks Sludge, for this bit of news."**

He continued on towards his own caverns. His black hood did little to hide the growing grin on his face.


	10. Chapter 10: Rematch Part 1

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 10: Rematch

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566

The Seals had just finished their classes for the day. Matt was staying back in school for practice while the girls were planning to go shopping, Cassie dragging a reluctant Jake along. Ken only wanted to go home and have a nice nap. It was one of those rare free days where they didn't have any training after class so they intended to make the most of it. As the five were about to go their separate ways, each of them suddenly experienced a sharp, piercing headache. They knew what it meant.

"It had to be today…" Ken grumbled while rushing off to a secluded area behind the school, the other four hot on his heels. Once they were sure they weren't seen, the Seals stowed their bags together in a bush. They waited as Matt crouched down, hand on the ground, and concentrated, trying to get a lock on the Legion's whereabouts.

The past two months of training had seen a marked improvement in the abilities of the Seals. They trained together, all seven of them, every day after school and were beginning to gel well with each other. Furthermore, during the course of their training, the new Seals had begun to exhibit new abilities related to their powers. Matt and Kyle were beginning to reveal hidden talents in reconnaissance. Cassie was fast turning into the team's strongest healer, in addition to being a capable summoner. Ken proved time and time again that he was the fastest of the seven, with reflexes to match. The team could count on Rachel's forcefields for protection and in terms of raw power, Jake outranked them all with only Ken being able to match up to him on a good day.

Matt grunted softly. "Got a hit," he said as he got up from his crouching position and dusted his hands. He then pointed to the construction site in the distance, a condominium project that had constantly been delayed. "He's definitely in that area, but other than that I can't get anything else." Ken's phone suddenly rang. It was Kyle.

"You guys felt that disturbance? Near the old construction site?"

"We're on our way there. Matt got the area right, but we can't pinpoint the exact location."

"Got ya covered there," Kyle said. "Top floor of the tallest building, near an elevator shaft. In terms of power, the guy seems to be Warlord-level at least."

"How close are you anyway?"

"I'm using my wind to make me invisible, but I'm still close enough for him to sense m – oh crap."

There was a sudden muted explosion over the line, followed shortly after by muffled swearing by Kyle. "Yeah, uh, I'll call you back later, alright?" he said hurriedly before cutting the call. Over in the distance, the other five saw clouds of dust mushrooming up all over the construction site.

"Let's move it," Jake said grimly, as he sped up after Ken, who had already run ahead the moment he heard the explosion over the line. Matt, Cassie and Rachel nodded in agreement before speeding up to catch up with the other two. As the five neared the battlefield, they saw Kyle burst out of a wall into the open sky and send a wind razor behind him. The Warlord that followed after him dodged easily enough before raising its arms at Kyle. To the disgust and horror of the Seals, the Warlord's black-tipped fingernails grew before he fired them at Kyle, keeping up a barrage of nails that continuously sprouted and attacked the shocked Seal. As Kyle narrowly avoided being hit by a nail, the same nail pierced a section of a wall, overgrown with moss over the years. The moss withered instantly, turning a sick blackish colour as it did so.

"Well, shit," said Ken, "it's poisonous."

"Yeah, who'da thunk?" deadpanned Jake as he flung a fireball at another volley of nails aimed at Kyle. The nails exploded in little bursts of flame leaving small little clouds of poison gas that was easily dissipated by Kyle now that he had no more distractions to deal with.

Realizing the new threat it now faced, the Warlord turned to face them, only to be greeted by a rock-covered fist, courtesy of Matt, that sent him flying through walls. Rachel followed up and fired a thin sharp needle of light from her index finger that pierced an area on the Warlock's hidden face where a left eye would be. Shrieking in pain, the Warlord fired his nails blindly all over the place. A curious crowd, alerted by the commotion, had begun to make its way to the location even though they could not see anything clearly, given that the Seals were fighting 25 storeys above. The distant wailing of police sirens could be heard. There was a low rumbling that intensified before giving way to sharp loud cracks. The building was beginning to fall apart. The crowd started screaming as boulders started to fall.

"We can't let those people get hurt because of us!" yelled Jake urgently as he tried to draw the wounded Warlord's attention. "Ken! Keep that guy busy! Cassie, Rachel, Matt! Prevent any debris from landing on the civilians! Kyle! Spirit shield, NOW!"

He leapt up and punched the Warlord hard, sending it flying straight up. A fierce jet of flame shot out of his right hand, engulfing the Warlord. "All yours Ken!"

"I'm on it!" Ken shouted back in reply. "Matt! Gimme a boost! 12 o'clock high!"

Ken ran towards Matt, already crouched in position. Cassie and Rachel had already gotten to work, Cassie transforming Bagheera into a whip that she used to catch falling boulders and fling them at the Warlord, giving it a taste of its own medicine. Rachel in the meantime caught any remaining ones with her forcefields. But even Cassie couldn't catch them all at once and Rachel was straining under the weight of all the boulders that she'd caught.

Just in time, however, Kyle's spirit barrier was set up. The civilians blinked out of view and there was a quiet hum of power as the wind inside the shield began to blow stronger. With a yell of effort, Matt threw Ken straight up into the air before jumping down to Rachel's aid, picking up the boulders that she'd caught and joining Cassie in using the Warlord as target practice. Ken in the meantime, further boosted by a wind that Kyle had sent his way, had reached the first wave of boulders that Cassie had threw at the Warlord. Using them as platforms, he darted in and out of the boulders, simultaneously forming lightning around the whole of his right arm such that it was now a makeshift lance as he jumped up towards the Warlord. Landing on the topmost boulder of the pile, he crouched before springing up straight for the Warlord, thrusting out hard with his lance-arm as he flew towards it.

As strong as it was, there was no way the Warlord could dodge Ken's attack. Ken drove in the lance-arm into the Warlord then cut his power before falling back, moving away instantaneously as the wave of boulders that the other Seals had thrown at the Warlord began to pummel it unceasingly. Ken's strike had done a lot of damage, but it was not out of the game yet. The Seals knew this.

With the exception of Matt who was slowly collecting a ball of energy in his right palm, the others began to summon power, their arms glowing in their own respective colours as the five prepared to blast it into oblivion. The second and final wave of boulders hit the Warlord.

Right on cue, Matt flicked the green ball of energy into the air and punched it in with both fists, smashing it into pieces. At the same time, the boulders that had hit the Warlord crumbled into tiny spikes. A flick of the fingers was all it took for Matt to send the rock shards flying straight into the Warlord, tearing it apart. The others let fly with their energy blasts.

However, while Jake and Cassie vaporized whatever was left of the Warlord, Ken, Kyle and Rachel shot off their energy blasts in three completely different directions. Just before the blasts hit, 3 black figures dropped the veils behind which they had been hiding and dodged before they could be hit and regrouped on the ground, looking up at the Seals who had now landed on the still-standing building.

"It's Razorpoint, Ken. Back for round two, from the looks of it," commented Matt.

Ken hissed angrily. "For them to have remained hidden all this time without us even noticing until just now…"

"The question is, who's gonna make the first move?" asked Cassie.

"Them, I guess…" Kyle began, jerking his head downwards at the Warlords.

Rachel squinted down at them. "You sure?" she asked. "They're not moving. How do you – oh."

"Yeah. Oh.," Ken said grimly as the seven Seals watched the thin black tendril that had suddenly sprouted from Razorpoint snake its way up the damaged skyscraper.

"Man, I've only seen that once and already I hate it when he does that," said Matt.

"Shields up. Get ready," said Jake.

The black tendril suddenly accelerated towards the group, targeting Matt who retaliated by throwing a few earth spikes at it. The line evaded the spikes easily, however, and went straight for a piece of rubble, piercing it. From the main tendril, smaller ones sprouted, wrapping themselves to the rubble, securing it to the main tendril.

There was a slight but ominous gathering of power from below and Razorpoint now used the rubble as a makeshift hammer and also as a mace, attacking the Seals non-stop. Cassie was unable to dodge an attack and was thrown back by a painful hit. Razorpoint immediately followed with another head-on attack but was foiled this time by Rachel and Ken who had leapt in front of their friend, both setting up their forcefields in an instant. This didn't seem to faze Razorpoint in the least as he kept up the pounding, slowly but surely pushing the three toward the edge of the roof.

Ken gritted his teeth as he strained against the force of Razorpoint's attacks. "Rachel," he said, "when I give the command, drop your shield and get Cassie outta the way."

"But…"

"NOW!"

Rachel dropped her shield and dove straight for Cassie, grabbing her out of the way. Ken in the meantime, boosted his shield and, just before the tendril hammer hit, tilted his shield at an angle so that the hammer, slamming into the tilted shield, was thrown into the air, the tendril controlling it flailing wildly as Razorpoint temporarily lost control of it. Jake wasted no time in throwing a thin metal rod that he picked up from the debris at the hammer. Sharpened by a small vortex of wind that Kyle had placed around it, the rod pierced straight into and out of the rubble, weakening it from the inside. With a loud yell, Matt ran up to it and jumped. His right leg encased in rock and covered in flame courtesy of Jake, Matt destroyed the rubble with a strong upward kick.

Down below, Razorpoint smiled from behind his hood. **"Impressive, but we're just getting started here."**

The tendril, free from the rubble, now snaked up into the air, grabbing a surprised Matt by the leg. A small grunt of effort, and the tendril was whipping its captive against everything, from the floor to the walls to even his own friends. The tendril now held a dangling Matt by his ankle. Smaller ones popped out from it, sharpening to become long thin points with which Razorpoint intended to stab him. But Matt had his own ace up the sleeve. Gritting his teeth, the young Seal concentrated, blocking out everything around him. The building began to rumble ominously.

Cracks appeared everywhere in the boulders that were strewn all over the floor on which the Seals were standing as the boulders began to break down. The little bits & pieces of rubble hovered serenely in the air before aiming straight for the young Seal, engulfing him in rock and dirt. Razorpoint, realizing the potential problem, made the smaller tendrils went straight for Matt but the areas which they hit turned abruptly to mud, trapping them there as more rocks began to cover them. The speed with which Matt was taking on a rock form was too fast for Razorpoint to dislodge his tendril from Matt. Matt, now too heavy for the tendril to support, dropped to the roof. The emerald glow that he had begun to emit while armouring himself flared brightly. His eyes, now green specks of light from within the rock form twinkled brightly, almost cheekily, as he glanced at the other five.

Rachel groaned. "I know that look. He's gonna do something crazy."

Matt gave a rocky grin and mimed follow-me actions. Jake turned to Rachel. "Do we go along with it?"

A confident smile was her reply. "I've lived next door to this idiot all my life. All he's got is gut instincts but they're nearly always right. I've learnt to guess when to trust those instincts, and this is definitely one of those times."

"Well,' remarked Ken drily, "he seems to have gone on ahead first, so it's not like we've got tons of options." True enough an impatient Matt had went on ahead, running straight for the edge of the roof.

Jake nodded before barking out orders. "Follow his lead. Once he lands split up in pairs and take the Warlords. Rachel, follow Matt. Ken, you & Kyle take another Warlord. Cassie, you're with me."

"Got it!" yelled the others as the five sprinted after Matt who'd just jumped off the edge of the roof, Razorpoint's tendril still embedded in his armoured form. As the other five Seals followed suit, they noticed that even more rock was enveloping their friend at a noticeably faster rate, making him fall faster because of the added weight. As Razorpoint frantically tried to dislodge his tendril from the human bomb that was Matt, his cronies did all they could to pierce the rock armour, firing energy blasts non-stop.

It was all in vain as Matt, limbs outstretched, crash-landed on top of them. There was a crack down the back of the rock armour and Matt leaped out of his armour and out of the way as Jake unleashed a furious burst of flame that reduced the rock to a blanket of magma over the War-General & his henchmen. A strong gust of wind from Kyle cooled the magma rapidly, and as it hardened to rock again the magma trapped the 3 Legion members within it. The 6 Seals, standing a distance away, wasted no time in blasting the rock to bits, leaving…

"…nothing?" asked Kyle confusedly. "What the hell?"

"UP UP UP! NOW!" yelled Ken, Matt and Rachel urgently, having went through this once before.

The Seals leaped high into the air, narrowly avoiding Razorpoint's attack that came from beneath without warning. All 6 retaliated by instinct, firing energy blasts down at the source of the attack. Razorpoint and his two Warlords in turn, dodged these attacks easily enough as they attacked the Seals in mid-air.

Kyle gritted his teeth. Summoning wind, he trapped all nine combatants in three massive vortexes, with the Seals split up according to Jake's prior instructions. The wind funnels suddenly dissipated into thin air. Over at Mithril HQ, Commander Karl Fanell watched with narrowed eyes at Kyle's move. "Begin tracking," he spoke into his headset. .

"Yes sir."

* * *

Universe 1566 

The vortex carrying Matt and Rachel, along with one of Razorpoint's Warlords, reformed itself in the air, in the middle of a cross-junction road about 3 storeys up. The Warlord had clearly some of Razorpoint's tricks as it reshaped its arm into a pointed tendril and pulled it back to attack the two. Luckily Rachel was too fast for it, firing 4 rapiers of light that pierced it by the shoulders and thighs. The force of her attack was so strong that the Warlord was slammed to the road, trapped there by her light constructs. As the two Seals dived headfirst for the downed Warlord, it hissed loudly. **"An eye for an eye"**.

Four tendrils burst out of the Warlord's stomach, aimed at the same spots that Rachel had attacked. Rachel barely managed to set up her forcefield when the tendrils hit it head on. The Warlord hissed angrily and pulled back for a second strike. She smiled grimly. "Too late, buddy."

Matt, his right arm already encased in rock, flew straight down with a loud battle cry. His punch went straight into the Warlord's chest and into the ground itself. He gritted his teeth as he concentrated, forcing his elemental powers into the Warlord, turning it into rock itself from the inside, rendering virtually defenseless against a follow-up punch. Slowly but surely, the Warlord was turning into a stone statue.

"What the hell?"

Matt could not disguise his shock at the sight before his eyes. Even in its weakened state, with a fist embedded in its chest and Matt's earth powers flooding into it, the being was not out of the game yet. Both hands grasping Matt's arm, it was actually _forcing_ Matt's powers back into him and sending its own dark energies along, intending to infect Matt's powers. Rachel landed behind Matt and ran up to him. "Matt, is his heart still solid rock?"

Matt struggled to get the words out. "Not for long, if he keeps this up. Rachel…"

"I got it."

A rapier of light each burst from her two hands. Grabbing both by the hilts, she drove the blades straight into the Warlord's heart. Had the Warlord still been in control, an attack like that would have been useless. For a stone heart, it was more than enough. The Warlord let out an unearthly shriek and writhed violently, trying to twist its body out of the rapiers that pinned it to the ground to no avail. The shriek abruptly died out and the Warlord's body suddenly collapsed into a blob of black goo.

Rachel shuddered as she helped Matt, trying to catch his breath, to his feet. "You alright, Matt?"

"Just give me a minute. That last attack…it took quite a bit out of me."

"Idea was there. You were trying to make it solid enough to get in a clean shot, right?"

"Yeah. Took too damn long though."

Rachel squeezed his hand. "Let's just called it a work in progress. Come on, we gotta get to the others."

* * *

Universe 1566

A hard punch by Ken and Kyle each sent the War-General Razorpoint crashing through a window, ten storeys up. Both sprinted to two adjacent broken windows and dove out, sending Razorpoint to the ground with flying kicks. Five storeys down however, the plummeting Legion member extended his tendrils, driving the points straight into the wall before catapulting himself upward back at the two Seals. Plowing into them, Razorpoint punched the cousins repeatedly, kicking Kyle back into the building before grabbing Ken by the ankle. Ken struggled vainly as Razorpoint swung him in a circle, then flung him back into Kyle who was struggling to get up. He flew up to a suitable vantage point, away from the building. Black tendrils sprouted from every available inch of his body. Razorpoint glowed a disgusting blackish light before the multiple tendrils erupted from his body, punching into and through the crumbling building mercilessly.

The hole that Ken and Kyle had been flung back into crumbled in a heavy cloud of dust. The tendrils punctured everything, from windows, to ceilings, to pipes. The building was assaulted repeatedly by the tendrils; Razorpoint's hooded smile had changed from a cruel one to a near manic one. There arose an ominous rumbling from below. The building in which the two cousins were in was beginning to collapse and there was still no sign of them. There was a shrill yell of glee from the War-General as he abruptly cut off his attacks and reformed his tendrils into a single axe. He sighed happily.

**"DIE."**

The black tendril axe was brought down onto the building with unbelievable force, cleaving the building straight in two. That blade, now resting on the ground, was suddenly transformed into a black mass of quivering energy, now cut off from its master. Razorpoint only stood smiling from his vantage point as what was left of the building exploded and the building finally collapsed, unable to remain standing anymore.

Looking down from above, Razorpoint allowed himself one last triumphant smile before he turned his back from the rubble and walked away. Abruptly he stopped as he felt the stirrings of a rumbling in the ground. The old War-General looked back on the rubble impassively as the faint rumbling eventually died down again. Slowly and deliberately, he formed another tendril, aimed at the perceived source of the rumbling. He shot it with blinding speed at the rubble. Just as the tendril hit the ground, the boys suddenly burst out from either side, a short lightning blade already formed on Ken's right wrist. Ken just barely dodged the tendril before slicing off its point. Snapping the blade from his wrist, the Seal then fashioned it into a dagger which he threw straight at the War-General's face.

Razorpoint swatted away the weapon disdainfully, looking up to suddenly see Kyle flying straight down at him. The young man plowed headfirst into him before kicking him away. It was all Razorpoint could do just to regain his balance, so much so that he was unaware of Ken suddenly materializing in mid-air behind him, his hand glowing bright blue.

With a loud yell Ken thrust his charged hand straight into Razorpoint's left shoulder from behind, aiming for the nerves. Pulling out, he dodged Razorpoint's haphazard swipe, leaving the War-General open for another frontal attack by Kyle. Kyle responded in kind, firing off his strongest wind razor yet, one that took off Razorpoint's arm just above the elbow. Summoning their powers one more time, the cousins then fired two balls of energy at Razorpoint from in front and behind

The ground was shaken yet again as Razorpoint crashed to the ground. Ken and Kyle landed somewhat clumsily shortly, both still weakened by the earlier beating they had taken. Their bodies glowed blue & white respectively as both powered up their shields, preparing for a counter-attack by Razorpoint.

They didn't have to wait long. Razorpoint blasted away the rubble with more force than the two thought possible, given the fact that they'd already handed him a sound beating. "What IS this bugger made out of?" Kyle asked his cousin incredulously.

**"Defying me time and again…do you really wish to make your eventual death a long and protracted one, Fanell?"**

As he spoke, Razorpoint suddenly regenerated his right arm from a tendril that had popped out from his stump. The two boys almost missed the tiny flicker of pain that flashed across his hooded face. He clenched and unclenched the fist, smiling evilly as he did so. His body tensed, Ken remained silent, his right hand clutching firmly the Blade that he had summoned.

**"I shall take your silence as consent then."**

Once more the tendrils shot out of the old War-General's body straight at the two Seals.

* * *

Universe 1566

Both Jake and the Warlord were engaged in a fierce swordfight, the sound of blade against blade ringing loudly through the air. Cassie in the meantime had her hands full with the Cursed Zombies that the Warlord had summoned just before it attacked Jake. She broke away from the advancing group, and crouched down, a palm resting on the floor. As Bagheera protected his mistress from the Zombies, power rushed from Cassie through her arm into the ground, drawing a circle around her.

But that wasn't all to come. More and more pink circles, each of different sizes, traced themselves on the ground, a total of five, excluding the one around Cassie. There was a sudden rush of air as bright pink light suddenly shot out of the circles with a loud bang. The clearing dust revealed Cassie, again with Bagheera in its Blade form, flanked by 5 different creatures. A collective growl arose from the five familiars, and all at once they fired energy blasts from their mouths that obliterated the Cursed Zombies in front of her. She raised her hand. "Get 'em, guys."

The five roared in acquiescence, heading off in different directions at the other Zombies, some of which now merged into Cursed Demons to counter this new challenge. Cassie's summoned familiars were no pushovers though. The first was a small pink monster that immediately rolled into a ball like an armadillo and charged straight into the Demons, throwing them up like bowling pins. It suddenly leapt up and spun in the air above them, letting out a strong wave of pink cherry blossom petals that hit the Zombies hard.

The second was a yellow eyeball with a mouth and an upright tail acting as its leg. The Chaos Legion forces attacking it were indeed fast, but this familiar easily teleported away from each attack directed at it, only to reappear a short distance away, attacking them with its tail-leg.

The third, a huge hulking rock golem was simply standing on the road, giving off no reaction whatsoever as Cursed Zombies and Demons pummeled it non-stop. It abruptly moved, walking towards a rosebush that had been planted as part of the roadside scenery, the only bush that hadn't been destroyed within Kyle's spirit shield during the fight. As it bent down to examine the budding flowers on it, a Cursed Demon suddenly slashed it to bits right in front of the golem's eyes. It was the Demon's biggest mistake as the golem, now enraged, charged, arms swinging, straight into the mass of Legion forces that had been attacking it.

The fourth was beside Bagheera as both ran straight towards the fray. A blue wolf-like creature with horns on its head, this familiar was a good deal bigger than the panther cub running beside it. Both roared loudly and tore into the Chaos Legion with blinding speed. While Bagheera leapt up into the air, reforming itself into a grenade launcher and firing its rounds in mid-air, Cassie's fourth familiar used its speed well, taking down its enemies one by one. The familiar let out a blood-curdling howl, and fired off a destructive ice beam, freezing its enemies in their places before lightning arced out of its horns, shattering the Cursed Demons.

Jake, having dispatched the Warlock while it was distracted from the appearance of Cassie's summons, was now fighting alongside his girlfriend's fifth summoned familiar, a humanoid brown hare that rained down a steady stream of punches and kicks at the Zombies. As the last two Demons in the group they were facing advanced, both human and hare dodged the incoming attacks and threw a flaming uppercut each at the Demons, blasting them into the air where Jake made short work of them with a torrent of flame. The Seals and familiars now regrouped around Jake, taking stock of the situation.

"New summons?" he asked Cassie.

"Kinda. Remind me to thank Ken for lending me his all his anime discs."

"Ah. Your power works by visualization of a character?"

Cassie nodded. "And also just by plain imagination. It's easier to visualize existing designs though. Summoning familiars that I thought up of by myself is a lot harder during battle, unless I've already had the detailed idea beforehand."

"So where did these guys come from them?"

"Some anime called Monster Rancher. They're pretty cool huh?"

Jake chuckled. "You can say that again." He then nodded at the Warlord that had just teleported in front of them. "Think they can handle that guy?"

Bagheera leapt down from its usual perch onto the ground in front of its fellow familiars, and bared its teeth at the newcomer, snarling. At a nod from Cassie, it led the other five straight at the Warlord. Cassie glanced at Jake. "Well, let's find out shall we?" she said as she ran after her summoned familiars.

* * *

Universe 1566

Rooftops flashed by as Isaac leapt from one to the other, landing lightly on each one and leaping off again in the blink of an eye. The sun blazed hotly from above, but even the oppressive heat wasn't enough to distract the Seal as he raced towards a white spirit shield, discernible only to his eyes. There was a sharp flash of light from the shield, and Isaac squinted as he headed ever closer to it. What he saw only made him go faster. The shield was scored with cracks, signs that the shield and its creator had been compromised. The spirit shield was still holding though, but a major injury to Kyle would cause a major leak, allowing the Chaos Legion forces sealed inside to escape and wreak havoc on the real world.

Isaac reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a small stack of his spirit cards. With a quick flick of the cards, he sent them to the more damaged areas of Kyle's shield hoping to bolster it. He glowed purple as he raced onwards to the shield.

* * *

Universe 1566

The last Cursed Demon fell to the ground clutching its slit throat, gurgling when screams wouldn't come out. Cassie looked on, impassively, as black ectoplasm dribbled out between the fingers covering the wound. The Demon finally gave out one last gurgle before dying, its body collapsing into black goo that evaporated away. Cassie turned away, momentarily nauseated, before collecting herself. She gave her Blade a flick to get rid of the blood staining it before throwing it up in the air as it transformed back into Bagheera, landing on her right shoulder, one of its favourite perches. Cassie let out a brief chuckle as it scrabbled for a while on her shoulder before finally righting itself.

All around the two lay the bodies of defeated Cursed Zombies and Demons, all taking turns to revert back to black ectoplasm and evaporate away. Her other familiars alternated between prancing amongst the bodies of the fallen such as the pink monster and the rabbit, or in making sure their enemies stayed dead, like the blue wolf which went around sniffing the bodies. To her right, Cassie saw Jake walking towards her, sheathing his Blade in a scabbard that he had created out of his flame.

The smile that he wore suddenly disappeared as he walked by the body of a Cursed Zombie, one which her blue wolf familiar was just making its way towards. He stopped, observing the wolf sniff the body, noticing that it was taking a longer time than with the others. His hand moved to rest on his Blade's hilt. Cassie moved to his side. "What's wrong?"

"Something's off with that Zombie," replied Jake, never taking his eyes of it. "You see it too, right?"

"White suit. A dirty white suit, but still white. Usually the Zombies always come in black suits."

Jake nodded. "Yeah. It's the Demons that have a bit more individuality. Plus this one looks clean. No signs of battle, no wounds."

A thought from Cassie sent the rest of her familiars back to her side. They fanned out around this new Zombie, while their blue comrade continued sniffing the body. "Call him back, Cass," said Jake quietly as he drew out his Blade. "And get ready."

It was too late. The white Zombie suddenly moved, taking off its glasses to reveal empty eye sockets from which maggots suddenly crawled out of. Its mouth opened and even more maggots streamed out, all headed towards the shocked familiar. The two teens could do nothing but watch in horror as the maggots swarmed into the familiar's mouth, consuming it from the inside. As the familiar was broken back into its original energy form, the maggots seemed to stand up, their ugly mouths glowing the same dirty white. They sucked all the energy dry before massing back towards the Zombie. He laughed quietly as he got to his feet, a disconcerting sight indeed with maggots still marching out of his eye sockets.

**"I suppose that's good enough for a starter salad," **he said, more to himself than anything. He looked around, noticing the other familiars. **"Oh good. More appetizers." **A hand raised in command, and the maggots moved with shocking speed towards Cassie's other four familiars, each still frozen in shock at the sight they had all witnessed. Their end came quickly, leaving the two Seals and Bagheera left against this new threat. Jake spoke first, his voice hoarse with barely-checked fury.

"What are you?"

There was no answer from the Zombie who stood with his back turned to them; he simply stood there absorbing the life force that had been consumed by his maggots. There was a sudden flare of light, and Jake was suddenly standing behind him, the fireball in his hand pressed hard against the Zombie's back. Jake growled, something he rarely did. "I'm gonna ask you again. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?"

In reply, the Zombie lashed backwards, his energy boosted by the energy that he had just consumed. Jake was already gone in a burst of flame, moving to Cassie's side. Maggot noted, not without some satisfaction, the small trickle of blood that had appeared on Jake's cheek. **"Ooh that's gonna leave a scar now, eh prettyboy?"**

Jake's eyes narrowed; his Blade was suddenly alight with bright red flame. As Maggot lashed out again, sending a crescent-shaped energy blast at the two, Jake slashed back. His flame attack cut easily through Maggot's attack, incinerating the protective wall of maggots that their namesake called up. The wall of maggots crumbled, half-burnt to cinders. The two Seals watched as the white Zombie struggled with his rage at having his minions vaporized, before suppressing it. He gave a disturbing smile before abruptly turning into a humanoid shape comprised wholly of alien white larvae. A black hooded cloak flowed out of his body to cover the whole of his body, leaving only his head uncovered. **"You want to know who I am?"** he hissed. **"Fine. I am the War-General Maggot, and you are my food."**

(To be continued)


	11. Chapter 11: Rematch Part 2

Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 11: Rematch (Part 2)

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566

The faint but acrid smell of burnt flesh hung in the air as Maggot surveyed what remained of his maggots following Jake's flame attack. The young Seal in question stood quietly, his hand still clutching his glowing red Blade firmly. Beside Jake, Cassie was now holding an already transformed Bagheera in a defensive stance.

The War-General meanwhile remained looking over his fallen insects, his face no longer wearing that murderous crazed expression it wore a few moments ago. He snorted, evidently humoured. **"Huh. Looks like I got you kids all riled up." **He held his hand out in front of him, and the remains of his maggots floated back to him, merging back with his body. Black spots appeared where the burnt maggots had merged back with his body. The War-General then focused on healing his injuries while his maggots formed a protective ring around him. There was no escaping the stench of decaying flesh that saturated the air as Maggot healed himself. A faint crackling sound made itself heard as the burnt maggots, fully dried of any life energy, crumbled into black dust and floated away. Maggot stood before the two, fully healed and ready for his rematch.

A swarm of larvae crawled out of the road drains behind the two Seals at an alarming speed. As Jake moved in between Maggot and his girlfriend, flame shield at the ready, Cassie whipped around and reformed Bagheera into a flamethrower. She pulled the trigger, and the familiar spewed fiery death all over the maggots. The ones that were still alive or not too badly burnt quickly changed tack, merging with one another to form foot soldiers similar to their Cursed Zombie counterparts. From all directions, the alien larvae massed towards the two Seals, but both had already leapt into the air, firing down with everything they had while regrouping at a different spot.

Temporarily hidden from view, the two teenagers took a quick moment to catch their breaths. Both were panting heavily, the occasional wheeze heard. "You alright, Cass? Bagheera too?" asked Jake.

"We're both fine…but what _was _that thing?"

Jake risked a look over the rooftop. "Hell if I know. That…thing is something else altogether."

Cassie shuddered. "I know. What he did to my summons…"

"Are they gone?"

She shook her head. "Not forever. They're still summons after all, created by my imagination. I just…know that I can summon them again at a later time. But not right now. Seeing that thing just consume them…" She shuddered again, before leaning into the comforting arm that Jake put around her.

"We'll be fine." There was a sudden beeping in their commlink headsets. Rachel's voice came through. "Any of you guys there?"

* * *

Universe 1566

Ken and Kyle were dodging tendril after tendril from Razorpoint when Rachel's voice came through the headset. "Any of you guys there?"

"It's me," replied Kyle as he batted aside a tendril with the flat of his Blade and cut off another. "Ken's with me too, but we're kinda busy here, Rachel."

"Razorpoint?"

"BLOODY HELL!" yelled Ken as both he and Kyle jumped back, dodging a tendril that, while rushing towards them, had sprouted an axe head and almost took off their own heads. There was a short pause before Rachel's voice came through again. "I'll take that as a yes. You guys alright?"

"We're a bit cut up ourselves," remarked Kyle drily, "that old man really has it for Ken."

"What about Jake and Cass?" asked Ken as he leapt over an incoming tendril and threw a bolt at Razorpoint.

"We're here," said Jake, but in a soft tone.

"You hiding from someone, Fearless Leader?"

"Call it a tactical retreat. Me and Cass took out our Warlock, but there was a second War-General hiding. Nasty piece of work. The two of us are trying to work out a plan. Rachel, what's your status?"

"We took care of our Warlock. No major injuries on our side, except the minor ones we got earlier. Hold on, Matt's checking our position relative to you guys." Matt's voice was then heard.

"Matt here. Okay, Rachel and I are closer to Ken and Kyle, but we'll split up anyways. The two of you are dealing with a new player after all."

Jake's voice took on a hard tone when he spoke next. "Negative. Both of you go to Ken and Kyle. They need the backup more."

"Screw that man," retorted Ken just as angrily. "We've had experience with Razorpoint whereas you're dealing with an unknown. I'm not risking our leader's life just because I'm dribbling out a bit more blood than you people."

"He's a bug! Literally! I'll just toast him to a crisp like you do to any bug!"

"I know you, man. If you say he's a 'nasty piece of work', then I damn well know he's bloody dangerous! If your flame was the best weapon we had against it, you'd already have taken him out! He's a real threat, Jake. You know it. I know it. Look, I'm open to accepting help but you need backup of your own too."

"He's right, Jake," said Isaac from out of nowhere.

"Isaac? What the…how the…?"

"Seals are able to enter and exit a spirit shield at any time. I also boosted Kyle's shield with my own energy. But that's not important. What's important is that Ken's right. Maggot's dangerous."

"Do you know this freak?"

"Not personally. But I heard stories from some of my contacts. Last seen around a hundred years ago; had his fingers in many smuggling rings on Earth, off-world, in different universes…he's been around. Then again, so have the people I talked to."

"Abilities?"

"Uses larvae to consume and suck dry the life force from any living creature. I'll back the two of you up, Jake. Matt and Rachel can go help Ken and Kyle."

"You know where we are?"

"Not really, but I can see a small building that's being engulfed by maggots. I'm guessing that's where you are," said Isaac as he put on a burst of speed.

Jake quickly looked out over the parapet, pulling back almost as immediately. "Oh balls. Time to go, dear," he said as his hands burst into sudden flame. Right on cue, the first wave of maggots swarmed onto the rooftop. Both Jake and Cassie fired energy balls at them before leaping away. To their right, a short distance away, Isaac flung a number of his spell cards at the building, dotting its wall with his cards. A soft grunt and a hand seal later, the cards exploded one by one, bringing the building down on top of the maggots.

Standing on another rooftop, both Jake and Cassie winced sympathetically as they surveyed the scene, satisfied. Isaac landed beside them, a gloating smirk on his face. "You want to get rid of an annoying bug, either you torch it or you squash it."

"Or you gas it," said Cassie as she suddenly turned and kicked Maggot, who had been sneaking up behind them, in the groin. There was a flash of pink light, and floating directly in between the two was a round grey Pokemon. "Smog him, please."

"KOFFING," the Pokemon uttered before releasing a thick cloud of the vilest and most foul-smelling gas right in the War-General's face. The three Seals vaulted over Maggot and the smog easily, and as they turned to look back at the blundering War-General, Cassie glanced at Jake. "You know sweetie, I think that gas is flammable."

"Really? Interesting," he said as he flicked a tiny spark of flame at Maggot.

The resulting explosion looked and sounded very impressive, considering the relatively small amount of gas that the Pokemon had emitted. "Thanks a lot!" said Cassie as she hugged it and rubbed its head affectionately before making it disappear in another flash of pink light. There was an anguished bellow from the rubble down below.

"Right, let's get down to business," said Jake grimly as he summoned his Blade. "We took out a lot of his bugs and we slapped a bomb right on his face so he's hurting bad. Don't let up. Let's make him go crying back to his daddy."

He leapt back into the fight, Blade in hand, followed by Cassie and Isaac.

* * *

Universe 1566

Ken grabbed an incoming tendril just before it pierced him, slicing it off. Dodging, he grabbed another and twisted it before using its point to pierce itself. It was futile, like trying to punch through water. Ken cursed inwardly and leapt out of harm's way before another sharp point generated itself out of the tendril.

"Tsk. This is getting irritating." Kyle muttered as he used his wind to cut up a barrage of attacking tendrils. The strands flinched in pain, but all Razorpoint gave away was a small twitch in his manic grin.

"This isn't good, Kyle," said Ken as he conjured a forcefield that blocked a small number of tendrils sneakily aimed at his cousin's back. The young Seal nodded his thanks. "It's like he stopped feeling pain," Ken continued. "Our attacks are definitely hitting but that crazed condition he's in just deadens the pain. He's crazy enough to sacrifice his life just to make sure he kills us."

"Because we're Seals?"

"That too, but I think it's got something to do with the grudge he has against the Fanell family. Remind me to ask my dad just what got Razorpoint all pissed off when we get home?"

"No problem. Of course, we're gonna have to actually be able to go home for that. What do you have planned for that old psycho?"

"There's the rub," Ken replied as he flung a lightning spear at high speed at the War-General. Razorpoint dodged it even as his tendrils rushed out to grab it by both ends before snapping the construct cleanly in two. "For an old man, he's really fast." Both boys fired bolt after bolt of energy at Razorpoint, bringing down surrounding buildings around him while he remained rooted at his spot, his grin never fading.

"…which means, I'm gonna have to be _really really _fast."

Kyle nodded. "I'll buy you some time."

A strong gale swept its way from behind the boys towards Razorpoint, still buried in the rubble, dragging in its wake numerous boulders and other heavy objects. Kyle's control was erratic, owing to his inexperience and the injuries he had sustained, but he managed to dump even more rocks on the impressive pile of rubble before forcefully holding it all in one place with a downburst.

"This isn't stable enough, and I can't hold it for long," Kyle warned. Ken, his eyes closed in concentration, nodded once while lightning crackled all over him. He was glowing in his colour, as all the Seals did each time they used their powers. But this time was somewhat different. The crackling was stronger, the lightning and the glow both a blinding blue, grounding itself in small arcs. It was at that moment that the rubble began to rumble ominously.

"Ken…"

"Seal…Aura."

The rubble exploded suddenly, the kickback breaking Kyle's control and flinging him backwards. Ken moved. And everything was suddenly in slow-motion.

* * *

Universe 1566

If it wasn't already obvious, it was becoming so now. Maggot was unprepared to deal with three determined Seals, the long years in confinement taking a toll on his skills. As he launched a stream of writhing maggots at the trio, Isaac shouted a chant word. The spirit cards that Maggot had blocked rushed to his left forearm, as usual arranging themselves in a five point pattern. A violet light ran from one point to the others, leaving a purple star traced in the air. Isaac easily blocked the stream as he held the forcefield in front of him like a shield. Taking advantage, Cassie and Bagheera ran towards the new War-General, with the familiar transforming into its Blade mode in mid-air. In the meantime, the star shield on Isaac's forearm began to glow and spin.

He braced himself, then fired the star straight at Maggot. Maggot, his view obscured by Cassie running straight at him, was unable to see the threat until the last moment when Cassie somersaulted over him. The huge star cut a long and deep diagonal cut on Maggot, almost severing him in two. And then Jake was there in front of the War-General, lodging his Blade deep in the cut that Isaac had made. "This is gonna leave a scar, Maggot."

So saying, Jake ignited his Blade, the flame burning Maggot from inside out. As he writhed uselessly and screamed in pain, Cassie jumped down from Isaac's star which she had landed on after somersaulting, bringing Bagheera down hard. She cut another deep cut into Maggot, such that the two came together in a V. The points of their Blades touching, both boyfriend and girlfriend yelled together, their bodies covered in the same glow that Ken was in some distance away, and the resulting explosion engulfed all three.

"HOLY SHIT -" began Isaac as he raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glare. Jake and Cassie suddenly came hurtling out of nowhere, thrown back by the force of the explosion. Isaac caught them, and checked both. The two young Seals were fine. The same couldn't be said for Maggot. Thoroughly defeated, the War-General stumbled out of the chaos. Almost all his surface was a burnt black, and great parts of the inside the same too. He was missing a leg and an arm hung on by a small thread of his maggots.

With both Cassie and Isaac standing beside him, Jake stood straight facing Maggot, his Blade propped upright in front of him. "Save yourself the trouble of opening your mouth, Maggot. This isn't over, and you'll be back for your revenge. We know it," he said calmly, never once taking his eyes off the beaten War-General. Then he gripped the hilt harder, and flame flowed down the blade. "Just know that when you come back, we'll be here."

It was easy to mistake his words for overconfidence, for mistaken bravado. But all four knew that those were words were more than a mere statement. They were a simple fact. And as Maggot disappeared back into the drains he called home, the look of pure hatred he gave the three was proof of that fact.

* * *

Universe 1566

Kyle's open mouth grew larger and larger in astonishment with every minute that passed by as he watched his cousin tear a new one into Razorpoint repeatedly. The old War-General was the fastest opponent the Seals had faced so far, but even he couldn't keep up with Ken's current speed. As he continued to blatantly stare, he was vaguely aware of Matt and Rachel landing beside him. Both sported injuries, but were not any worse for the wear.

"Yo, where's the fight?" asked Matt cheerily.

"Over there."

"Can't see anything except all that blurry movement," muttered Matt as he squinted. "Who's getting pounded?"

"Razorpoint."

Matt swiveled his head so fast he cricked his neck. "You're kidding me. Who's doing the pounding?"

"Ken."

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm serious man. That right there is Ken, pouring whoop-ass all over Razorpoint."

"Okay, then why does he need our help again?"

Kyle shrugged. "Beats me. I thought we could use the help too, but then he told me to buy some time and then he started glowing blue and then he started pounding on Razorpoint and now I wish I had popcorn."

_"This isn't a free show, idiots."_

The three spectators looked around curiously, trying to pinpoint where the voice in their heads had come from until they finally realized where it was coming from. It was Ken. _"All I'm doing is just focusing my powers onto myself, instead of letting it all just emanate like we usually do unconsciously. It won't last, so-"_

"You need us to pick up the slack and finish the job," said Matt, finally understanding. "How long before you're out of juice?"

_"10 seconds more. Get ready."_

There was a loud boom and Razorpoint hurtled backwards out of a dust cloud straight into rubble. A blue blur reappeared above him, burying him down straight into the ground, resulting in a small crater. As Razorpoint struggled out of the hole he was stuck in, Ken leapt away, moving upwards in leaps and bounds before dramatically doing a backflip and sending a wave of lightning straight down at the War-General. With that, Ken sped back to rejoin the rest of the squad, his Aura Focus abruptly disappearing once he reached them, causing him to wobble unsteadily on his feet.

"Easy, easy there buddy," said Matt as he and Kyle supported their teammate to a safer location. "Take a breather. The two of us are gonna help Rachel out," he said as he jerked his head back to Razorpoint's location where, sure enough, Rachel had moved towards as soon as Ken had reached his friends' location. "Once you're done, we'll wrap this mess up, the four of us."

Ken sniggered weakly. "You mean you're not gonna finish him up for me?"

"Depends. You got enough for a final crack at this guy?"

Ken snorted and gave him a rude gesture. "Of course I got enough," he grumbled as he got up to his feet before suddenly wobbling unsteadily. "Whoa."

"I figured as much," said Matt as he turned away to hide the slight smirk. "Just sit down and relax."

Ken leaned back against the wall, not without much muttering and complaining under his breath, using his remaining power sparingly to heal himself as the other three continued the fight. Matt, taking charge, ran straight for the weakened War-General, armouring himself in rock as he did so. His right fist sprouted spikes from the knuckles, the spikes hardening in an emerald glow until they were as hard as diamond. Razorpoint remained rooted where he was, aware that this was his final attack before he would be forced to retreat. The odds were already against his favour ; prolonging the fight would no doubt be the end of it. Therefore he remained standing where he was, collecting his power for an attack which would hopefully cause great damage to the four Seals.

Kyle and Rachel in the meantime had headed along Matt's flanks using the collapsed buildings as cover, intending to pincer the War-General. However, Razorpoint was more than ready for their surprise attacks, catching them with his tendrils easily and flinging them at Matt. He dodged, and kept moving towards his target. An uppercut from the ground up threw dirt in Razorpoint's eyes and then he was behind Razorpoint, pushing his spiked fist straight into him. Snarling, Razorpoint swung his right arm behind wildly. He hit Matt, but in so doing, completely missed Ken who suddenly materialized in front of him, lashing out with a kick to the face.

Razorpoint then threw a punch with his left at Ken, who caught it, twisted it and stabbed his Blade right through him into a wall before spearing the same area Matt had targeted with a charged hand thrust from in front. Screaming in agony, the old Legion commander collapsed into a single black tendril that fell to the floor, slithering away into the cracks in the ground before either Ken or Matt could destroy it for good.

Ken collapsed into an ungainly sprawl, his energy finally spent. He glanced at Kyle. "Looks like that's over and done with. Let's get out of here."


End file.
